SCG eyes ASEAN market, more overseas investment

BANGKOK, July 8 (TNA) - Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) has announced a huge 200-billion baht overseas investment plan for the next five years, focusing on the ASEAN region. President of SCG Kan Trakulhoon says the plan will hinge on the strategy of mergers & acquisitions. Key opportunity areas identified include the industries of petrochemical, cement and construction material, as well as paper production. Kan adds that as financial crisis in Europe is still worrying, the company will be turning to the ASEAN region, which has combined population of more than 600 million. There are even plans to set up a new cement production base with a yearly production capacity of 1.9 million tonnes in Myanmar, which has imported about three million tonnes of cement from SCG over the past two years. Currently, SCG’s investment in Indonesia ranks first in ASEAN with total investment approximately 970 million U.S. dollars, followed by that in Vietnam of about 380 million U.S. dollars. (TNA)