BANGKOK, Nov 17 – Betagro, a leading Thai agro-industry and food processing business, plans to establish pig farms and food processing plants in Laos and Cambodia to cater to the planned implementation of ASEAN Community (AC) scheduled to take effect at the end of 2015, said Athapol Uraipraiwan, senior vice president of the company.
Betagro’s planned plants in the two Indochina countries would become production bases for the company’s exports to the European and Japanese markets which are its major customers, Mr. Athapol said.
Admitting that tariff reduction remains a major problem for AC members, Mr Athapol said the company plans to set up a sales office in Myanmar and it would only export its products for sale there, as there is still no plan to establish a factory there.
Currently, Betagro exports mostly chicken meat to Europe. Half of its total production is exported there while it exports 40 per cent of its chicken and pork production to Japan.
The company is studying exporting frozen chicken and other food products to Russia after the country government expressed interest in importing these products more from Thailand.
The company is also considering investing in building more animal feedgrain processing plants in the next three years as its current food production plants are operating at near full capacity.
Betagro projects meeting its Bt87 billion earnings target this year, with its business growing 10 per cent in 2015, Mr Athapol added. (MCOT online news)
