French company shifting focus to BRIC countries from US, Europe
France-based Alstom has adjusted its management team in Thailand as part of an aggressive bid to increase its local market share from the current level of 15 per cent.
Chairman and chief executive officer Patrick Kron said yesterday in Bangkok that Alstom had decided to place more emphasis on BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries and emerging markets, including East Asia, because of the higher growth they offer when compared with conventional markets such as the United States and Europe.
In Southeast Asia, Thailand is one of the company’s main focus markets, in addition to Indonesia and Vietnam, in the power-generation, power-transmission and transport businesses.
He said combined orders from the US and Europe used to account for 65 per cent of Alstom’s order value, with the remainder coming from BRIC countries and emerging markets.
However, these proportions have changed totally in recent years, with 60 per cent of the orders now coming from the latter category.
The growth of power-generation and transport business between conventional and emerging markets has also changed. Growth in the US and Europe is about 1-1.5 per cent per annum, while the figure for emerging markets is more than 4 per cent.
Kron said about 22 gigawatts of power-generation facilities were installed every year in East Asia excluding China and India, with Alstom accounting for 6GW of this amount.
“Alstom has a market share in power-generation infrastructure business of 25 per cent worldwide. For the Thai market, we have a share of 15 per cent. We expect to participate in new power projects in the country and believe that we can do better,” he added.
Alstom provides turnkey infrastructure construction for power plants and rail-transport businesses. It has operated in Thailand for nearly 40 years and taken part in a number of power-plant projects such as the Map Ta Phut combined-cycle power plant, the Dan Chang and Phu Khiow biomass power plants, and the Rayong combined-cycle plant.
It is also involved in power-transmission projects of the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand.
Kron said Alstom looked for the opportunity to participate in all kinds of power plants in the Kingdom, including hydropower plants, wind farms, coal-fired and gas-fired power plants, and nuclear.
The French company also plans to meet with policy-makers in the Energy Ministry to discuss business opportunities such as the smart-grid system.
“We’re looking for opportunities not only in Thailand, but also in neighbouring countries such as Burma, Laos and Vietnam, which have the potential for hydro-electric power plants,” he said.
Alstom generated revenue of ¤21 billion (Bt884 billion) worldwide in its last fiscal year, ending in March. Power generation was the largest contributor, with sales of ¤9.7 billion.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/new/business/Alstom-re-jigs-Thai-team-to-boost-share-30167413.html
