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Consultant plans to open office in Rayong |
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The engineering and architectural consultant Chuchawal Royal Haskoning will set up an office in Rayong within a few months to support its new customer, PTT Chemical, and potentially other clients of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), according to the president Wybe de Jager. The office would be the first outside Bangkok since De Weger of Rotterdam entered Thailand through a joint venture with Chuchawal Pringpuangkeo in 1974. Mr Chuchawal and De Weger had participated in 1968 in the design and project management of the Bank of Thailand headquarters in Bang Khum Prom. De Weger was merged with the Netherlands-based engineering and architectural consultant Royal Haskoning in 2001 and the local affiliate's name was changed from Chuchawal De Weger to Chuchawal Royal Haskoning. The company has signed a contract with PTT Chemical to study the latter's requirements for importing and exporting chemical products. Subsequent contracts for other phases could include engineering, project management and industrial-oriented jobs. Mr de Jager said the company would expand to support other new potential customers of the IEAT within the year. ''New investments on Cambodia's Koh Kong such as infrastructure and ports are interesting to us,'' he said. During the first seven months of this year, it earned revenues of 145.8 million baht and it expects 250 million for the full year, up from 235 million in 2007. ''We're not negative about Thailand's economy, which normally has ups and downs, as the country's fundamentals are strong, as seen in the well-educated people who have contributed to the economic system in the past 20 years,'' said Jan Bout, chairman of the board of management of Royal Haskoning Group. While rising fuel prices have hurt most businesses around the globe, Royal Haskoning has had a windfall from expansion of oil, gas and petroleum businesses. Its earnings in the past seven months rose by 17% from the same period last year. The group has 26 offices worldwide with 4,300 staff, including 400 in Thailand working for clients in Southeast Asia, Dubai, Oman and Qatar. Its industrial and commercial clients in Thailand include Chevron, Siam Makro, Lotus, Fraser & Neave, HomePro, Thai Beverage and Osotsapa. |
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Bangkok Post, 12.08.2008 |
