Charoen Pokphand Foods will invest 30 billion baht (US$977 million) in overseas plants in China and Vietnam, as well as research and development this year, accelerating its pursuit of growth outside Thailand, Nikkei Asian Review reported.
Illustrative photo.
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In addition, food-processing facilities in China will be expanded.
Exports from the Vietnamese facilities were previously limited to shrimp and other seafood. The Charoen Pokphand Group member plans to convert them into an export hub. CP Foods expects to begin exports from Vietnam in a year and a half, Prasit said.
One anticipated destination is Japan, with CP Foods-arranged meetings already held between executives from such Japanese trading houses as Itochuand Sumitomo Corp. and Vietnamese government officials.
Presenting a new business strategy, Prasit said CP Foods aims to lift annual sales to 800 billion baht within five years from 555.5 billion baht for 2018.
The company, which generated 72% of sales in overseas markets last year, seeks to lift this to 75% by 2024.
With their home market aging, Thai companies are shifting investments to neighboring emerging countries into high gear. Vietnam is the third-biggest market for CP Foods, after Thailand and China.
In the fiscal year to December 2018, CP Foods saw its sales in Vietnam jump 26% on the year to 81.7 billion baht (US$2.56 billion), in stark contrast to those in Thailand, which remained flat.
Montri Suwanposri, CEO of CP Vietnam, a unit of CP Foods, was quoted as saying the company had so far invested a total of US$1 billion in Vietnam after the entry into the country in 1993.
