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Published on August 29, 2007

Managing director Chadatip Chutrakul yesterday said the company had been looking for locations for new projects for some time and was studying the business potential of a location on the outskirts of Bangkok.

She did not specify a time frame or the number of projects Siam Piwat was seeking to establish with its huge investment budget.

Initially, however, it sees the possibility of running two projects. For the first one, it has joined with MBK Co to bid for an area of almost 10,000 square metres covering the Centrepoint area of Siam Square and 13 units in nearby commercial buildings from the owner, Chulalongkorn University.

She declined to reveal details of the project proposed by Siam Piwat and MBK until next month, when the university is expected to announce the winning bid. However, if the two companies win, they will lease the area for 15 years, in accordance with the conditions of bidding.

Second, Siam Piwat is studying the business opportunities offered by an area on Bangkok's outskirts and will decide later what kind of project should be established there and at what cost. The area will not be less than 8 rai, she said.

As well as searching for locations for new projects, Siam Piwat has also added a new business unit that will provide retail management services and a retail-business consultancy to hotels and residential developers deciding to add a retail section to their development projects.

After operating for just three months, the new unit is providing services to four projects: two in Bangkok and two upcountry. One will be launched later this year.

Siam Piwat is also working on celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Siam Discovery Centre. It has completed interior and main structural renovations and is waiting for new shops to open and current tenants to finish their own renovations.

A new blue and green logo for Siam Discovery, with design emphasis on the letter "D", was launched yesterday, and the company is planning to spend Bt20 million on a "Discover 10" campaign and other activities from September 14-16 to mark the anniversary.

Chadatip said Siam Discovery had more than 80,000 shoppers a day. About 60 per cent are local people, and the rest are tourists.

She said the shopping complexes had been enjoying a better performance since the second quarter, and she expects the retail industry and the Thai economy as a whole to be much improved by next year's third quarter, following the general election on December 23.

Nitida Asawanipont

 The Nation