Managing director Sompong Phaoenchoke yesterday said he saw Vietnam as an attractive country after making a short trip there last month, which allowed him to explore the country and discover that it had good business potential. One reason is its rapidly expanding economy.

He is revisiting the country today to study the business environment in more detail and to see what prospects there are for Thai Rung to work with investors there.

In addition, the government wants the economy to grow by way of using domestic brands and products rather than importing them.

However, they lack enough know-how in developing some products such as manufacturing pickup trucks.

Many of the roads there are in poor condition and people require vehicles that can handle bumpy terrain, assistant marketing manager Athichanun Boonyong said.

"We see this is as a good opportunity to establish business relationships by sharing our know-how with investors. We see Vietnam becoming a possible major export market for Thai Rung," he said.

Expectations of establishing business relationships in Vietnam and opening up new markets is part of the company's business strategy for this year.

The company sees the possibility of jointly developing and manufacturing products under new brand names to sell throughout the Asia region.

China is another country where Sompong hopes to establish new business relationships with investors there, Athichanun said.

Since the company entered the Chinese market three years ago, it has been on the lookout for new business partners and the country is now one of Thai Rung's biggest export markets.

Sompong said having more business alliances and new markets was essential to boost the company's performance and become more competitive at a time when many businesses in developing countries are being affected by free trade agreements.

In terms of investment, Sompong said Thai Rung planned to invest Bt300 million to expand production capacity of its auto parts manufacturing plant. It also aims to have up to five Thai Rung centres nationwide from the current two centres in Bangkok. It will either run the centres itself or appoint dealers.

The company yesterday launched two new models - TR Adventure II (developed from Isuzu's D-Max) and Allroader (developed from the Colorado) - for use in town and off-road. The two models will also be showcased at the 28th Bangkok International Motor Show from March 30 to April 8.

It expects revenues to grow 30 per cent this year to Bt3.4 billion.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation