BANGKOK — Siam Cement Group, one of Thailand’s top industrial companies, sees bright prospects for growth within Southeast Asia beyond its home market, particularly in Vietnam, CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash says.
“I think, at this point, Vietnam. Maybe secondly would be Indonesia,” Roongrote told Nikkei in an interview when asked about the group’s priority markets.
SCG, which expanded net profit by 7% last year despite a similarly sized drop in revenue, expects its cement business to need more time for a recovery than do the group’s chemicals or packaging segments, the chief executive said.
Once a Vietnamese petrochemicals plant comes online, the company anticipates that revenue from Southeast Asia excluding Thailand will rise to 35% of the total from the current 26%.
Edited excerpts from the interview follow.
On which countries SCG is emphasizing:
A: You can see that most Asian countries do…
