Thai Group Mapping out Strategy to Counter Chinese ProductsThe Saha Group, Thailand's largest consumer product conglomerate is working out a new strategy to counter low-cost products from China in the face of the country's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Bangkok Post reported Wednesday.When China becomes a member of the WTO soon, it will no longer face as many trade barriers from WTO member countries as before, the report said. "We worry about this issue because our products will lose the advantage when comparing with Chinese products in the international market. China has very low production costs, so we are thinking about a new strategy to compete with products from China," Boonsithi Chokwatana, the group's chairman, was quoted as saying. Boonsithi said he could not estimate how much financial impact sales of Chinese-made products would have on sales of similar Saha Group goods, especially clothing and footwear marketed under several brands. The Saha Group intends to make the selling point of its products clearer and the priority area will be niche markets. It will also develop new products to meet global trends, especially in areas that are difficult to enter. It is likely that Saha will form partnerships with local companies in some Southeast Asian countries to sell its products. However, it has no business plan for investment in production in China because it is not easy to build Thai brands that would be accepted by Chinese consumers, the report said. Boonkiat Chokwatana, a director of the group, was quoted as saying that the first two businesses to be affected by Chinese- made products would be textiles and shoes because 80 percent of their production costs went to labor. However, Narong Chokwatana, another director, was quoted as saying that, the superior efficiency of Thai plants compared with Chinese counterparts would help overcome price differences. |
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