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Published on November 26, 2007

Praphan Eamrungroj, senior vice president for properties at Big C Supercentre, said that drafting the new retail business act needed an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the retail business.

"We will agree if the framework of the new retail act is fair and all stakeholders are treated equally. The new act should benefit consumers overall," said Praphan.

He said the new retail business act did not consider consumers and the benefits they should get. Consumers, he said, are one of the most important stakeholders in the retail system.

Praphan said that the main principle of this retail business act referred only to business people, particularly the protection of small traditional retailers. "In my view, individual consumers should benefit from the new retail act as they pay tax to develop the country," he said.

Praphan said the new retail business law would affect all large retailers, who would find it more difficult applying for permission from local authorities to open new branches. As a result, retail competition in particular locations will, he said, be less developed and controlled by a few big retailers.

Praphan said that next year Big C would focus on opening more compact centres.

"We'll open eight new Big C stores next year, mainly upcountry. The total investment for new store openings, as well as renovating existing stores, will be between Bt4 billion and Bt5 billion," he said.

Only two standard stores, with retail space of 10,000 to 11,000 square metres, will be opened next year, in Ayutthaya and on Pathum Thani's Nava Nakhon Industrial Estate. The rest will be compact outlets with retail space of 4,500 to 6,000 square metres.

Darmp Sukontasap, senior vice president of Tesco Lotus, said it was encouraging to learn that the National Legislative Assembly had been willing to include representatives of all stakeholders in the retail and wholesale business in a committee to review the draft retail and wholesale law.

"As I have stated before on many occasions, we have no objection if the government sees fit to have a law to govern the retail and wholesale business. However, the law should be fair and transparent and treat everyone equally. If the objective of the law is to increase the competitiveness of the traditional shops, the measures should be clearly spelled out. Such measures should truly benefit the traditional shops and not large suppliers and their wholesaler networks. Most importantly, the law should be clear about how consumers would benefit from it," said Darmp.

He said the retail and wholesale business represented 18 per cent of the country's GDP. and involved over six million jobs.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation