APAC Outlook - issue 47

Meinhardt EPCM | Thai Optical Group

w w w. a p a c o u t l o o k m a g . c o m

ASteward of the

I s s u e 47

Community

Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic

Nadya Krisko of Honeywell Aerospace explains why COVID-19 has seen the private jet increase in popularity

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WELCOME

2021 Beckons

EDITORIAL Editor: Sean Galea-Pace sean.galea-pace@outlookpublishing.com Editor: Dani Redd dani.redd@outlookpublishing.com Editor: Marcus Kääpä marcus.kaapa@outlookpublishing.com PRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to the 47th edition of

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APAC Outlook magazine!

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Junior Designer: Matt Loudwell matt.loudwell@outlookpublishing.com BUSINESS Managing Director: Ben Weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Operations Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com PROJECT DIRECTOR Joshua Mann joshua.mann@outlookpublishing.com HEADS OF PROJECTS Callam Waller callam.waller@outlookpublishing.com Thomas Arnold thomas.arnold@outlookpublishing.com Vivek Valmiki vivek.valmiki@outlookpublishing.com TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com SALES MANAGERS Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com Josh Hyland josh.hyland@outlookpublishing.com Ryan Gray ryan.gray@outlookpublishing.com PROJECT MANAGERS David Knott david.knott@outlookpublishing.com Kyle Livingstone kyle.livingstone@outlookpublishing.com Sam Love sam.love@outlookpublishing.com ADMINISTRATION Finance Director: Suzanne Welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com Finance Manager: Sophia Curran sophia.curran@outlookpublishing.com Office Manager: Daniel George daniel.george@outlookpublishing.com CONTACT APAC Outlook Ground Floor, 69-75 Thorpe Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 1UA, United Kingdom.

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cover story features Siam City Cement (SCC).

Having celebrated 50 years in operation last year, SCC has continued to demonstrate compassion for its local communities as well as resilience despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.

“One never knows how bad a crisis is going to get, so the first concern for us was to set up our crisis management and emergency response teams,” says Aidan Lynam, Group CEO. “The first priority was to protect the health of our staff and customers, and while we’re just about out of what we call crisis mode, we’re still keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the situation and are now responding to the economic fallout.”

Mining is the focus of our next feature as Dylan Webb, CEO of Datamine, discusses the success of his organisation and the newest technological innovations utilised in the regional mining industry. Webb affirms that as a result of the pandemic, organisations have been forced to digitise at scale and embrace technology. “A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an acceleration of technology adoption and acceptance of modern working practices.”

Our Expert Eye slot this month features Gopalakrishnan Krishnamurthi, Global Leader for ADMnext at Capgemini, who offers his advice to companies looking to embrace an optimised IT future.

Elsewhere, we take a dive into Singapore and examine the initiatives the city-state is undertaking in a bid to adopt a greener approach.

While you’re here, make sure you don’t miss our in-depth reports with FV Hospital, Fuel Chief Tanks, CyberSecurity Malaysia, Thai Optic Group, and more!

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Sean Galea-Pace Editor, Outlook Publishing APAC Outlook issue 47 | 3

CONTENTS

12

16 20

REGULARS

6 NEWS Around Asia Pacific in seven stories

8 EXPERT EYE Back to Basics: Four Steps to Solidify Legacy IT for the Digital Future

34

26

BUSINESS INSIGHT

12 Travel

Flying High

SPOTLIGHTS

Private air travel soars in popularity

16 Leadership

De-risking Mining Investments The need for technical due diligence when evaluating mining asset acquisition

TOPICAL FOCUS

20 Sustainability

Sustainability in Singapore

4 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Helping SMEs in Lao realise their potential

34 Philippines Export On the road to recovery

142 THE FINAL WORD

Exploring sustainability and ecological methods of waste disposal in the city state

142

26 The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI)

What will be the biggest trend impacting your industry in 2021?

APAC OUTLOOK MAGAZINE

F E AT U R E S

42 SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES

94 Thai Optical Group

Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

Providing the world with optical lenses

CONSTRUCTION

44 Siam City Cement

A Steward of the Community Showing strength and compassion in challenging times

62 Meinhardt-Bonacci Engineering Australia

Development and innovation in a growing industry

68 Meinhardt EPCM

Looking to the Next Horizon A pioneer of building development and innovation

TECHNOLOGY

78 Datamine Software Stone and Software

Leveraging technology to optimise mining operations

HEALTHCARE

86 FV Hospital

Combatting COVID for Vietnam

Clear Vision, Caring Culture

78

OIL & GAS

102 Fuel Chief Tanks

A Family-fuelled Future Why SuperVault represents the economic, environmental and safest storage solution

MINING

110 AJ Lucas

Dependable Drilling Leading from the front in Australia’s mining industry

118 AK Altynalmas

Revolutionising Resource Extraction Innovation and development in the Kazakh mining industry

INSURANCE

86

132 Howden Asia

The Heart of Insurance Placing people and businesses at the heart of insurance

94

Responding to a crisis, adapting to a new normal

44

102

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 5

NEWS Around Asia Pacific in seven stories…

TECHNOLOGY

NZ boosted by strongperforming tech sector

TRADE

15 APAC NATIONS AGREE LANDMARK TRADE DEAL C H INA HAS teamed with 14 countries across the Asia Pacific region to agree a long-awaited major free trade deal.

The trade agreement was first discussed in 2012 as a way of creating one of the world’s biggest free-trade zones.

Upon the deal being signed on November 15, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will consist of 15 countries and 2.2 billion

people, around 30 percent of the world’s population.

The countries involved are set to include China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In a joint statement, it was revealed that the deal “will play an important role in building the region’s resilience through inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic economic recovery process”.

TOURISM

NSW injects $500 million to support COVIDimpacted businesses TH E NEW South Wales (NSW) Government has confirmed a $500 million stimulus package to help businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the Out & About programme, NSW residents aged 18 and over will 6 | APAC Outlook issue 47

be provided with $100 worth of digital vouchers that can be used at eateries and on arts and tourism attractions in the state.

The $100 per person will be split

N E W Z E A L A N D ’ S tech industry has bounced back from the disruption caused by COVID-19 by posting strong revenue, export, labour and investment growth.

The annual technology industry report, known as TIN, has showcased a considerable rise by almost a billion dollars or by 8.9 percent over the previous year to $12.7bn.

Included in the revenue total was a 10.7 percent rise in exports of $9.4 billion, with 56 tech exporting firms each reporting revenues of over $50 million.

According to the report, in 2015, 38 tech companies in New Zealand made revenue over $50 million.

It was also revealed that new jobs in the tech sector increased to record levels with an additional 4,000 jobs during the last financial year which saw staff numbers in the 200 largest tech companies rise to 55,167.

into four vouchers worth $25 each, two of which will be designated for restaurants, cafes, clubs and other foodservice venues. The remaining two vouchers can be used for entertainment and recreation, such as cultural institutions, performing arts, cinemas and amusement parks.

“Applying for a voucher will be simple and easy and made available via the Service NSW app,” commented Minister Dominello, Minister for Customer Service.

TECHNOLOGY

China drives regional uptake of electric vehicles CH INA IS leading a drive to switch to electric vehicles in emerging markets which could save governments $250 billion annually in oil imports, according to a new report by Carbon Tracker.

It finds that transport will account for over 80 percent of all expected growth in oil demand up to 2030, based on an analysis of the International Energy Agency’s

business as usual scenario. Around half of the growth forecasted is set to come from China and India.

However, the report details that the countries are already diversifying away from oil and actively supporting EVs as prices decrease to those of petrol and diesel vehicles.

Kingsmill Bond, Carbon Tracker energy strategist and report lead author, commented: “This is a simple choice between growing dependency on what has been expensive oil produced by a foreign cartel, or domestic electricity produced by renewable sources whose prices fall over time.”

OIL & GAS

Imports into China increase despite COVID restrictions C H I N A H AS accelerated its purchases from exporters such as Russia, the United States and Angola despite new lockdowns being implemented.

As the world’s leading importer of crude oil, China is the only significant buyer that is thought to see increased oil demand this year following the impact COVID-19 had on consumption globally.

With China’s imports anticipated to reach 12 million barrels every day next year, sellers are lining up shipments to retain market share as worldwide oil consumption is thought to have decreased by 9 percent throughout 2020.

FOOD & DRINK

Bega Cheese set to acquire Lion Dairy and Drinks

ECONOMY

Singapore economy contracts less than first feared S ING APORE’S ECON OM Y decreased by 5.8 percent during the third quarter in comparison to a year ago, which is better than initial estimates, according to the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

According to official data, Singapore had previously estimated that its economy would shrink by seven percent year-on-year in the July-September quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s GDP grew by 9.2 percent during the three months ending September, which is a turnaround from the 13.2 percent contraction in the second quarter.

“The improved performance of the Singapore economy came on the back of the phased resumption of activities in the third quarter following the Circuit Breaker that was implemented from April 7 to June 1, 2020, as well as the rebound in activity in major economies during the quarter as they emerged from their lockdowns,” commented the ministry.

AU STR A L I A’ S B E G A Cheese is set to add yoghurt to its existing portfolio of products after beating international dairy giant Saputo and Tanarra Capital to the Lion Dairy and Drinks business.

The deal, which is now in its final stages of negotiations, is thought to be worth around $550 million and is primarily funded by a capital raising of around $400 million, with the balance funded by debt.

A successful acquisition will see the $1.1 billion organisation introduce a number of labels such as Pura Milk, Dairy Farmers, Yoplait yoghurt, Farmers Union and Dairy Juice.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 7

EXPERT EYE

Back to Basics: Four Steps to Solidify Legacy IT for the Digital Future Capgemini’s Gopalakrishnan Krishnamurthi offers his advice to companies looking to embrace an optimised IT future Written by: Gopalakrishnan Krishnamurthi, Global Leader for ADMnext at Capgemini

I

n the digital age, application loyalty has become synonymous with brand loyalty.

Digital has put the power in the hand of consumers, and in many instances applications have become the first touchpoint between people and businesses. Digital, though, is constantly evolving.

It is not enough for organisations to have a great application, be it internal or external. Instead, they need to constantly have an eye on the future and be ready to adapt to the pulse of change.

While many CIOs should (and are) becoming more apps-focused, this awareness of future change can leave the IT core – the here-andnow-operations – neglected. Having an agile, efficient, and responsive IT estate is key to a successful digital future. If the IT core is the foundations of a house and innovation is the bricks, then without steadfast underpinnings, any new digital concepts will likely topple over.

A solid action plan needs to be in place to make sure that legacy IT estates are a robust launchpad for digital transformation. In putting your current state of IT and applications in order, you can achieve maximum impact from your core applications – manifesting your enterprise vision of a future that is agile, disruptive, and innovation-led.

Preventive, predictive, and perfective maintenance To improve IT maintenance, the entire IT core must become lean and opti8 | APAC Outlook issue 47

mised. This means zero defects and tickets. Lean principles will eliminate waste and reduce cycle time while smart application monitoring can be used for the early detection of failures.

Achieving this requires a sharp focus on quality, which must be infused throughout the entire operating model with robust processes, release mechanisms, and testing and code quality assurances.

ABOUT THE EXPERT Gopalakrishnan Krishnamurthi is the Group Offer Leader (GOL) for Capgemini’s AMS offer portfolio. He has been with Capgemini for 11 years and has worked in the technology industry for over 25 years. In his role, Krishnamurthi works with C-level executives at multinational corporations, helping them to implement digital transformation initiatives that boost operational efficiency and take full advantage of emerging technologies. Krishnamurthi is based in Bengaluru, India.

Fostering a proactive mindset Two of the biggest reasons for high ticket volumes stem from lagging legacy systems and archaic enterprise architecture.

These issues can be solved by utilising a portfolio management system, which gives the IT team a big-picture, strategic view of all applications.

Rather than be in reactive mode – constantly having to fix defects rather than prevent them – having a portfolio management system allows IT teams to take on a proactive role. This means they can ask broader questions about, for example, application simplification or migration to the cloud.

An intelligent portfolio management system also empowers CIOs to address these questions based on smart analytics and data, so that IT teams can move forward with confidence.

Preventing business interruption through insights, competitiveness, and efficiency Critical to any efficient IT estate is the prevention of business disrup-

tion, leaving IT teams able to focus on value creation for applications instead. CIOs may want to consider outsourcing to a business command centre (BCC) to help.

BBCs enable a holistic, insightdriven, business-focused application management approach that brings together processes, applications, and IT. In this way, IT teams can act on the wealth of insights available to create business value and continually manage risk.

“ULTIMATELY, A LEAN, EFFICIENT AND A RESILIENT IT CORE GOES A LONG WAY IN DRIVING OPERATIONAL AGILITY AND HELPS CLIENTS RESTORE SERVICES QUICKLY IN TIMES OF CRISIS”

Removing latency through disruptive services When it comes to innovation, businesses need to be agile and rapid in their approach. Ideas which are slow to materialise risk being obsolete in value by the time they reach proof of

concept. To ensure agility, the right mindset is critical.

Many organisations see innovation as a bolt-on, rather than a core business function. Instead, it has to be seen as a dynamic, ongoing state of change which runs through the

lifeblood of the organization.

To enable this, IT teams must foster a forward-thinking, problem-solving mindset, with the aim of solving real business problems. This will help the business to start realising the value of the IT function, opening the door for IT leaders to be involved in more business conversations and weave innovation into the organisation’s fabric.

Ultimately, a lean, efficient and a resilient IT core goes a long way in driving operational agility and helps clients restore services quickly in times of crisis. By applying the framework above, IT teams can go beyond reactive support and single-speed legacy applications – transforming the application and IT function into a valuable asset that drives real growth.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 9

Outlook Creative Services Complementing the production of APAC Outlook, Africa Outlook, EME Outlook and North America Outlook magazines, Outlook Publishing’s awardwinning in-house team is now utilising these same specialist production skills to offer a full and bespoke range of editorial, design and marketing services via its new Outlook Creative Services division.

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PRIVATE JETS

FLYING HIGH Since the COVID-19 pandemic has sent commercial airlines into freefall, private jets have increased in popularity – we take a closer look Written by: Dani Redd

12 | APAC Outlook issue 47

TRAVEL

T

ravel was one of the industries hit hardest – and first – by the recent coronavirus pandemic, as lockdowns were imposed across the world and borders closed to new arrivals.

“COVID-19 drastically changed the landscape of the travel industry. With many restrictions in place to hinder the spread of the virus, airline passenger levels have fallen dramatically and virtually every air carrier has been forced to reduce schedules, cancel routes and take aircraft out of service,” says Nadya Krisko, Regional Business Aviation Leader, Honeywell Aerospace.

According to the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), an estimated 46 million jobs are currently at risk due to loss of connectivity caused by COVID-19: 41.2 million from the travel and tourism sector, and 4.8 million spread across direct employment in aviation. But, perhaps surprisingly, one area of the sector is enjoying a surge in popularity since its initial slump – private jet travel.

“Even if airline routes are available, there are fewer options available in terms of travel dates, times and destinations. As a result, many fliers are considering traveling by private aircraft. Private jet operators offer passengers the flexibility and opportunity to fly to different locations at personalised times, making up for the gap in the market currently left by airline operators,” Krisko explains.

The phrase ‘private jet’ conjures up an image of affluent billionaire playboys quaffing champagne. But in the coronavirus, many companies have been chartering jets in order to continue travelling for business.

According to James Moon, creator of TailHail – a membership-based private aircraft platform – chartering an aircraft can be surprisingly reasonable.

“When we set out, our target demographic was from millennials to the retired. We quickly found APAC Outlook issue 47 | 13

PRIVATE JETS that normal, ordinary people are enquiring,” she said, in an interview with This is Money.

“I’m currently organising a charter for 60 people to fly from Newcastle to Munich. It works out that their charter will be cheaper per person than an EasyJet ticket.”

Costs of hiring a private jet can vary, based on the number of passengers, the size and specifications of the aircraft, and the duration of the journey. Private jet company Air Charter Service estimates you can expect to pay between $1,300 and $3,000 per flying hour for a turboprop or smaller jet plane (seating between four and six passengers); $4,000 to $8,000 for a mid-size jet (up to nine passengers); and $8,600 for larger private jets (14 to 19 passengers). While this price tag might be out of reach for some of us, it is possible for those accustomed to flying business and first class.

thoroughly than commercial aircraft.

“Normally, commercial airlines are overwhelmed with passengers and strict departure times. This may result in cleaning times being rushed and maybe even overlooked.

Traditionally, commercial airlines are scheduled to perform deep cleanings once a month. These deep cleanings involve hours of labour. In times of a pandemic and post that, a more thoroughly and frequently cleaned business aircraft can provide huge value to passengers and this is something that business operators can leverage,” she says.

Honeywell Aerospace is currently

working on solutions for the commercial aviation sector, including Honeywell UV Cabin System, which can treat an aircraft cabin with ultraviolet rays to reduce bacteria and viruses in under 10 minutes. The latest iteration of this system comes with a handheld wand, which can be used on business jet interiors.

To help restore passengers’ confidence in flying, Honeywell launched an array of PPE products for both flight crew and passengers themselves. The latter contains latex-free gloves, a mask and hand wipes, and is designed for single use, while crew kits are suitable for longer-term usage.

COVID-SECURE AIRCRAFT There is evidence to suggest that flying on a private or chartered jet is more COVID-secure than private aircraft.

For a start, passengers are spared the long waits at the airport and the queues to board the plane, thereby minimising exposure time. While there are on average 300 touch points on a commercial aircraft, on smaller private jets there can be as few as seven.

Furthermore, according to Krisko, private aircraft are often cleaned more

“...PASSENGERS ARE SPARED THE LONG WAITS AT THE AIRPORT AND THE QUEUES TO BOARD THE PLANE, THEREBY MINIMISING EXPOSURE TIME” – NADYA KRISKO

14 | APAC Outlook issue 47

HOW CAN PRIVATE JETS CAPITALISE ON AN INCREASE IN POPULARITY? Many private jet operators are hoping to keep the new customers they have attracted beyond the current crisis.

“My advice to business jet operators is to continue providing a seamless and effortless experience for the passenger from the moment they arrive at the airport to touchdown,” says Krisko.

TRAVEL “This will make passengers want to fly with the company again and again. As part of this, today’s business jet cabin can and should truly be an “office in the sky” with continuous, uninterrupted connectivity for its passengers.”

Honeywell offers a blend of JetWave hardware, airtime and flight services for operators. This means that both flight team and passengers can connect to an ultrafast broadband network, allowing business travellers to receive email, access the internet and even conference call with important clients.

The company is also helping to streamline the operations of private jets by helping them manage their data. Honeywell Forge is its datadriven analytics platform, which offers management capabilities in the areas of connectivity, flight operations and navigation. Customers can also use the platform to help troubleshoot and fix issues in real-time.

IS IT GREEN?

Honeywell’s 29th annual Global Business Aviation Outlook report forecasts up to 7,300 new business jet deliveries worth $235 billion between 2021 to 2030. Does this mean that private air travel will become part of the ‘new normal’? And what does this mean for the environment?

Whilst private jets might be symbolic of excess, according to a Forbes article, private air travel might be greener than you think.

The article argued that private jet travellers often spent far more in their holiday destination than economy travellers, meaning that far more tourist dollars are spent per amount of CO2 emitted. It also suggested that private jets have been experimenting with sustainable fuel alternatives – Honeywell Green Jet Fuel is a biofuel with sustainable feedstocks – for

longer than commercial carriers and are committed to carbon reduction.

Another thing that might change your opinion is the fact that private pilots logged in over 118,000 flight hours last year flying on charitable and medical missions – business aviation is often on the frontline to lend support in times of crisis.

Let us hope that if private air travel does become normalised, such work will continue.

AEROSPACE

LEADERSHIP

THE NEED FOR TECHNICAL DUE DILIGENCE WHEN EVALUATING MINING ASSET ACQUISITION

A

n investment to purchase another mining project, operation or company is often a make or break item for mining executives and investors.

Buyer’s remorse has led to the demise of many a CEO or MD. Of course, hindsight is a great thing to have. But could such mistakes have been avoided with proper due diligence prior to the investment decision?

Every mining operation and company is different, and the material items will vary according to commodity, location, environment, governmental and social factors. These should be considered by appropriately experienced professionals against each discipline. There is a myriad of questions to ask. However, with such a large number of questions, it is possible to lose perspective of the most important questions. Here are some to get you started: 16 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Tarrant Elkington, Global Manager of Snowden Group, explores some of the key questions that need to be answered before committing to the acquisition of a mining asset Written by: Tarrant Elkington, Global Manager, Snowden Group Is there adequate support for the mining inventory included in the financial model?

Does the mining inventory include a majority of Inferred Resources, or even worse only “Target Mineralisation”? (sometimes referred to as “Blue Sky”).

If so, there is a high degree of resource risk and you should ensure that you are happy for it to be included in the valuation?

Do the resources the inventory is based upon have sufficient evidence of the quantity and quality i.e. is the drilling of appropriate quality and has it been conveyed accurately into a mineral resource estimate?

Is there evidence that the entire mining inventory can be processed at the quoted recovery and cost to produce the assumed quality and quantity of product? And is there evidence that that product can be sold for the assumed price?

With more niche products becoming the norm, there is greater risk around the ability to produce a product to the assumed (and required) quality.

Has there been variability testing used from across the whole deposit to demonstrate that the entire inventory can be used? Is it really safe to assume that the whole deposit will behave in a uniform way? Has a buyer seen

MINING

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 17

LEADERSHIP a sample of your final product and provided written verification of the terms on which it would be purchased?

It will not reflect well on the purchase decision to find out that the mine does not produce a saleable product, or that a large portion of the inventory has an unforeseen issue that means it cannot be profitably extracted.

Is there evidence to support cost assumptions?

An obvious one, but it needs mentioning. What evidence is there that the costs assumed are reasonable? Is there a history of production and costs? For new

ABOUT SNOWDEN We are an experienced and innovative team of trusted mining advisors supporting mining companies and their investors in evaluating new mines, improving the performance of existing operations and complying with regulatory requirements.

We have strong capability in resource geology, mine planning, corporate advisory, data management, software development and project management. We deliver the advice to support the industry, the software to embed best practice, and train the industry to do things better.

Recently acquired by Datamine, we are now able to support our clients with the broader team across 20 global locations.

Contact us at: snowden@snowdengroup.com or visit www.snowdengroup.com

18 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Figure 1. Mining cost benchmarking of Australian open pit mines in 2019.

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, 2020.

projects, have cost inputs been sourced from the market recently?

How does it compare to other similar operations?

It is possible to benchmark most operations against its peer using market research platforms (See Figure 1 for an example).

Have all capital and closure costs been considered?

As speculative resources are often put forward in a vendor model, it is possible that the capital costs of the development of these resources have not been added to the model.

For example, perhaps the additional inventory requires another tailings lift, or a new tailings dam. And have all closure elements been adequately considered?

Is there anything that can stop the mine from proceeding, and are there mitigating steps?

Many potentially viable mining projects are thwarted by non-technical factors such as social (nearby villages, heritage areas) or environmental (permits, approvals). Is there something here that hasn’t been adequately considered or addressed?

What is the expected return on the investment AFTER considering the purchase price?

Many mining projects look great technically and economically; stand alone. However, these projects come at a price.

After considering that cost, the expected rate of return is often much lower, and often lower than alternative options such as progressing other projects. Buyers will often become attracted to the potential of the project without considering this important impact. Considering what is a “fatal flaw� changes in the context of a significant purchase price.

How long will it take to start generating cash, and how much will you spend before you get there (including the purchase price)?

Is the operation currently generating a profit, or is there a capital injection (on top of purchase price) required to get to this point? Do you have the patience and money to get to the point of generating the profit?

Are there any upside opportunities that are being missed?

Often, the only opportunity to make

MINING an abnormal return from an investment (other than getting lucky on commodity price) is to find an opportunity that the asset owner is currently unaware of.

Given that the current owner is closer to the project than you are, this is quite a challenge. However, an outside perspective, from experts who have seen successes and failures in similar projects, can add insights and suggestions that could lead to a step change in the project or operations performance.

Have all the risks been considered?

Mining is a risky business, and all risks in a potential acquisition should be identified, ranked, and potential mitigation measures considered. Remember that a “fatal flaw� may not be a single issue but may be a combination of issues which together make this a risky investment.

Why is the asset being sold?

Really, a combination of all the above and potentially the most important. Ultimately, no decision to purchase should be made without a clear understanding of the reasons that the asset is being sold.

If the project is as good as they say, then why don’t they just keep it?

Is there something you are missing?

Does it sound too good to be true?

A natural curiosity and significant

research are often required to uncover hidden motives for disposing an asset.

Ultimately, each of the failures of mining investments can boil down to one of these items, commodity price, or a combination. Whilst being at the whim of commodity price, answering these questions satisfactorily will result in better decisions being made, and less ramifications on the individuals involved.

New to the mining industry or want to gain a deeper understanding of the mine cycle, geology or financial considerations?

These courses have been specifically designed for those working in, associated with or investing in the mining industry. Covering the fundamentals, behind the scenes information, and risks of the mine cycle, our courses are recognised as industry leading and are presented by our expert team of Geology, Geostatistical and Mine Engineering Consultants.

General Training courses include: Geology for Non-Geologists Mining for Non-Miners Mining Finance for Non-Finance Professionals Mining for Executives, Managers and Investors Understanding Public Reports and Mine Project Valuation Techniques Training is offered online, onsite or in one of our offices. Some restrictions may apply due to current global circumstances.

Email us at training@snowdengroup.com or visit www.snowdengroup.com/training for more information.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 19

SINGAPORE

SUSTAINABILITY

Singapore is a green city that thrives on diversity and technology, but it is not without its environmental issues Writer: Marcus Kääpä

T

here are two major figures that hammer home the size of Asia: the continent covers roughly 30 percent of all landmass on earth, and (more staggeringly) it is home to over 4.6 billion individuals. As it contains almost 60 percent of the globe’s total population, there is no wonder why the region is the largest contributor to industry, individual, and other forms of global waste.

China, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion individuals alone, is the greatest polluter on the planet (twice as high as the US), with India placed third and Japan in fifth. Not all of this comes down to vehicle emissions, but also the huge level of production and manufacturing active in these nations, and on top of this the lack of industry-wide alternative and greener methods of business that companies have to abide by in the likes of Europe.

Asian industry provides resources and products on a tremendous scale all over the globe – the gathering and obtaining resources, production, shipping, and transport is without a doubt taxing on the environment, and due to a lack of government restrictions

many damaging industry practices remain commonplace.

For example, while industrial use of natural gas as a power source is increasing across Asia, fossil fuels remain the cheapest (and therefore the most popular) source of energy.

Alongside this, with huge urban populations, the products necessary to the basic survival of everyday individuals often come with some form of plastic packaging – something that too often finds its way into the ocean, landfills, or incinerators rather than recycling plants.

Bottled water, for example, becomes an absolute necessity for the population of countries like India whose urban water sources remain unfit to consume directly.

LAND LIMITATION It is when we examine proportionate waste that we turn to an Asian nation that punches above its weight.

Singapore is one of the most efficient and prosperous places in the region. And although it sits as a geographically small country, it produces more waste per person than most.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 21

SINGAPORE The sovereign island city-state had a population of around 5.6 million in 2018, and this is estimated to have risen beyond 5.8 million in 2020 – a highly condensed collective urban population. Its 63 islands cover a landmass of just over 700 kilometressquared, and yet it is one of the highest waste producers proportionally compared to other Asian countries.

Consumers in the city-state produce more waste per person than almost anywhere. And, surprisingly, the nation has only touched lightly on the subject of sustainability compared to its Asian counterparts (and other countries around the globe). Aside from expanding visibly greener space and weaving nature throughout the metropolis (Singapore is known as the “Garden City” after all), the nation comes with a host of waste issues.

On the ground it would not seem like Singapore is a nation known for its wastage. Its streets, waterways, and public spaces are notoriously clean due to the well organised and efficient rubbish collection systems the city has in place. And it strives to promote the aforementioned green space through architectural examples such as its Gardens by the Bay, and the host of “Supertrees” that stand as grand designs and an innovative symbol of the city.

However, beneath the surface waste is an issue. One example is the city’s only landfill site. As a nation restricted for space, the landfill has become something of a problem. A rising population, increased consumption, and continually climbing amount of rubbish sent to the site has made the landfill a ‘time bomb’ threatening to overflow.

In line with this, Singaporean corporations have been similarly relaxed when it comes to ecological methods of practice and waste production. Retailors are reluctant to introduce a cost on single-use plastic bags due to the fear of the resulting upset of the cost-conscious consumer,

although this single-use plastic waste makes up a substantial percentage of the nation’s total domestic waste.

This remains a highly debated topic in Singapore.

Even when rubbish is collected much of it is incinerated thereby creating its own problems for the global environment.

The nation’s government is lagging behind the likes of Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand on the subject of combatting plastic waste. In 2018, only four percent of the nation’s plastics were recycled. The single-use waste of this kind often doubles up as useful material for alternative waste or other everyday uses.

“A RISING POPULATION, INCREASED CONSUMPTION, AND CONTINUALLY CLIMBING AMOUNT OF RUBBISH SENT TO THE SITE HAS MADE THE LANDFILL A ‘TIME BOMB’ THREATENING TO OVERFLOW”

SUSTAINABILITY

Singapore’s aim is to become the world’s greenest city

ECOLOGICAL EFFORTS Although single-use plastics remain a problem, there are plans at work to combat such issues. The city-state’s government plans to increase education surrounding single-use plastics to aid the reduction of plastic waste. This is designed to have a wider reaching effect through mindful use of plastic rather than a forced reduction of it.

One of Singapore’s largest supermarkets, FairPrice Group, is to explore methods of plastic waste reduction while maintaining product safety and quality. This plan is occurring alongside the nation’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework that the country seeks to begin by 2025.

The framework will combat plastic and packaging waste by requiring companies to take full responsibility

The amazing botanical gardens in Singapore

for the lifecycle (including the ability of disposal) of all packaging that these companies produce for products – a direct and hands-on approach that will force firms to go greener.

As for emissions caused by individual vehicles and those who use them, in 2017 the city-state boasted a public transport mode share of 66 percent. This target was set to rise to 75 percent by 2030. 2020 has seen the outbreak of COVID-19 that had stumped the overall use of transport of

both kinds for a while.

Indeed, 2020 saw a large reduction of emissions in cities across the globe due to the “lockdown” period, with new methods of working in place being accepted globally as the new norm. Especially for a city as technologically advanced as Singapore, the arrival of widespread digital working methods has been an easy transition and one that is beneficial to the environment.

As well as this, the promotion of green space continues to grow in accordance with Singapore’s aim to become the world’s greenest city.

It is known for having planted some three million trees across its cityscape, including an area of rainforest rich in biodiversity at the island’s centre, providing a home to wildlife that could otherwise be displaced and threatened.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 23

Meinhardt EPCM | Thai Optical Group

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Community SAINT JAMES HOSPITAL GROUP Innovation and adaption through COVID-19

Living Smart

Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic

STANDING SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH SLOVENIA

How Uber continues to leverage the power of technology to bring smarter solutions to several African markets, not only in the field of travel, but much further and deeper into the communities it serves

Nadya Krisko of Honeywell Aerospace explains why COVID-19 has seen the private jet increase in popularity

Orange’s Patrick Roussel examines the numbers of unbanked across Africa and how mobile money could solve the problem

Richard Browning, the man inside the ‘Iron Man’ suit, tells us the story behind monetising the idea into Gravity Industries

COVID-19 has seen the private jet increase in popularity Nadya Krisko of Honeywell Aerospace explains why

across Africa and how mobile money could solve the problem Orange’s Patrick Roussel examines the numbers of unbanked

the story behind monetising the idea into Gravity Industries Richard Browning, the man inside the ‘Iron Man’ suit, tells us

the communities it serves travel, but much further and deeper into African markets, not only in the field of technology to bring smarter solutions to several How Uber continues to leverage the power of

Smart Living

by the COVID-19 pandemic communities despite the challenges presented continues to show strength and compassion for its local Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE)

SLOVENIA WITH SIDE-BY-SIDE STANDING

SAVIOLA HOLDING & COMPOSAD

A true pioneer of the circular economy

circular economy A true pioneer of the

Tell us your story, Community and we’ll tell the world.

COMPOSAD HOLDING & SAVIOLA

through COVID-19 Innovation and adaption

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APAC Outlook, Africa Outlook, EME Outlook and North America Outlook are digital and print publications aimed at boardroom and hands-on decision-makers, reaching an audience of more than 800,000 people around the world; spanning the full range of industrial sectors.

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With original and exclusive content compiled by our experienced editorial team, we look to promote the latest in engaging news, industry trends and success stories from across the globe.

Your company can join the leading industry heavyweights enjoying the free exposure we provide across both digital and print platforms with a free marketing brochure, extensive social media saturation, enhanced B2B networking opportunities, and a readymade forum to attract new investment and to help you grow your business.

Visit www.outlookpublishing.com/work-with-us for details on how your company can feature for free in one of our upcoming editions.

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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHTS Welcome to our series of spotlights.

These reports dive into specific segments of economies across the region, featuring exclusive insight from associations and organisations in the know.

THE LAO NATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (LNCCI)

PHILIPPINE EXPORTERS CONFEDERATION INC (PHILEXPORT)

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

LAO’S SME SECTOR

SMEs are the backbone of Lao’s economy, and the government is aiming to reduce the obstacles that inhibit their potential

INTRODUCTION

A

ccording to a 2019 report from the World Bank, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 99 percent of all registered firms in Lao, and around 82 percent of employment. These SMEs have played a vital role in Lao’s economic development, especially in the trade, manufacturing and service sectors.

Unlocking the potential of the country’s SMEs is vital to ensure Lao’s continuing economic development and its cultural wellbeing. This is something that both public and private stakeholders are aware of. The Government of Lao’s 8th National Social Economic Development Plan (8th NSEDP 2016-2020) incorporates the SME Development Plan 2016-2020 to help promote SMEs. The government wants to promote a non-resource exploitation based economy, with agriculture, tourism and manufacturing, the private sector and SMEs at the centre of socio-economic development.

loans with far higher interest rates.

Not all SME owners and entrepreneurs have had training in management and financial planning – low financial literacy can inhibit growth. Furthermore, informal sector SMEs may indulge in poor practices (such as low compliance levels) which can unfairly impact upon more compliant firms.

Another problem SMEs face is access to a consistent supply of electricity. Although electrification in Lao is improving, SMEs – especially those in rural areas – have reported delays and difficulties establishing a connection, and a consistent electricity supply.

FACTS & FIGURES SMES IN LAO

Constraints

Registered SMEs: 124,567 (2013 census)

Despite the proliferation of SMEs in Lao, many small companies are hindered by various factors that inhibit growth. The first of these is access to finance, which had become a more acute constraint even before the pandemic. The World Bank suggests that this is the result of a variety of factors, such as the banking sector’s caution in loaning money to SMEs (believing it to be high-risk), that there is a lack of variety of finances offered to SMEs (especially in rural locations). Many SMEs end up turning to microfinance institutions instead, which results in

Percentage of total registered businesses: 99.8

26 | APAC Outlook issue 47

SME sector concentration: Trade, manufacturing, food and hospitality Geographical concentration: Vientiane prefecture (28 %), Savannakhet province (11 %), Champasak province (9.2%)

Solutions Improving SMEs’ access to finance is vital. The World Bank suggests: diversifying financial products and services offered to SMEs by banks and other institutions; improving SME capacity in financial management and accounting practices; and improving credit information coverage to financial institutions to better assess lending risks.

Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) recently collaborated with Sacombank to

provide loans intended to catalyse the growth of SMEs in Lao. At present, business owners and farmers who apply for a loan must offer land or house as collateral before they are eligible for a loan.

But under the new Nang Fa Fund, LNCCI will authorise the loan and act as guarantor, meaning that SMEs will not have to offer land or house to the bank.

Eleveted, night view Improving infrastructure within the country will of Makati, the business also be beneficial to SMEs. Investmentdistrict into the of Metro Manila energy distribution network and grid connections would be particularly valuable.

I INNTTRROODDUUCCTTI IOONN

THE LAO NATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (LNCCI)

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 27

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Industry Insights: The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI)

A S S O C I AT I O N

L

ao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) is an independent body which represents the business community in Lao. It has more than 4,000 members represented across 18 provinces, business associations and groups.

LNCCI functions as the nexus between state and private enterprises, and its key responsibility is to identify the problems and concerns of its members and ensure that they are presented to the government. This advocacy ensures that business policies and legislation is developed with Lao’s business community in mind; its SME sector in particular.

LNCCI believes it is vital for private businesses in Lao to work hand in hand with the government in enabling SMEs to move faster in adopting new technologies and business models; responding to new value chains and market opportunities. Its Strategic Private Sector Development Plan 20182020 consists of four main pillars, one of which is ‘Service Provision for Lao Businesses (incl. SMEs) and the development of SME Service Centres.

In 2017, LNCCI worked with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) to create the SME Service Centre (SSC) – an independent organisation to help SMEs access training, information and support.

The first office was located within the capital of Vientiane (within the LNCCI). Since then, the SSC has opened branches in Luang Prabang, Champasak and Savannakhet. Over time, it is looking to expand into other provinces.

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The SME Centre offers a comprehensive and vital package of services to would-be entrepreneurs. This includes training and workshops on everything from digital marketing to developing a business strategy, as well as advice on book keeping and finances. Each centre has a dynamic co-working space where SMEs can establish networks and contacts. Crucially, SSC also helps SMEs access financial opportunities, such as bank loans.

Many SMEs operate in the tourism and hospitality space. The SSC wants to help these businesses reduce their environmental footprint, and to do so has launched an ambitious programme, ‘Plastic Free Laos’, to help the amount of single-use plastics used in hotels and restaurants.

The SSC represents LNCCI’s promise to its members to promote the interests of SMEs. It continues to advocate for smaller businesses, providing an increasingly fertile environment for entrepreneurship within the company.

SERVICE PROVISION FOR LAO SMES LNCCI’s pillar for developing and improving services for SMEs in Lao consists of seven fields of activity: • Improving the competitiveness of Lao companies in priority sectors • Supporting SMEs access to finance • Market access and trade facilitation • Reward local companies and SMEs under the Lao Business Awards • Developing an ecosystem for start-up and business incubation in Lao PDR • Assisting and attracting MNCs to Incorporate Business in Lao PDR • Capacity building for SME Service Centres

THE LAO NATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (LNCCI)

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 29

OUR COVID-19 COMMUNITY PROTECTION PLANS

A SUCCESS STORY

How the Vientiane International School navigated a global crisis, safely reopened campus, and continued to offer instruction to 100% of learners, without a critical impact on enrollment, staffing, or operations.

COVID-19: A GLOBAL CRISIS The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on health systems and countries’ economies on a global scale. It has also impacted people’s mobility, which has critical repercussions on international schools’ operating model and their approach to teaching and learning.

As a consequence of an unprecedented worldwide crisis, enrollment in international schools has decreased. Some of these schools in regions that are highly dependent on the tourism industry have already lost 30% of their enrollment (Informa Connect Singapore, 2020). In addition to complying with high-order mandates, international teachers’ recruitment and retention are some of the organizational challenges faced by international schools thus impacting business continuity.

At VIS, we have respected the Lao government measures to protect the country during the pandemic and followed its guidelines. At the same time, we developed Our Covid-19 Community Protection Plans, a strategic document linked to our Road Map to Our Destiny to guided our actions.

Despite the challenging times we are living in, we have protected our core assets and met all critical deadlines to resume operations safely. We have recruited and retained key talent while offering our student body a blended learning experience, on-campus and online. Our operations –including enrollment– have not been compromised. We continue working and improving our community protection plans daily. We are committed to safeguarding our community by practicing the best standards to keep the learning happening.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY We have broadly shared Our COVID-19 Community Protection Plans: • •

•

•

With our school community across different channels.

With government agencies of Laos PDR, both in digital and printed and they are using it as a reference for the local educational system With the international school community in relevant publications like AAIE’s COVID-19 Weekend Brief Through our Social Media Channels.

We have also created educational media to share with the VIS community, and that you can check out here: • Our COVID-19 Community Protection Videos • Entry and Exit on Campus • Using the Cafeteria

THE FACTS: WHAT MAKES IT ASUCCESS STORY • • • •

Met Critical Deadlines Students Received Instruction Staff On Campus New Staff Contracts Honored

• Staff retention • Students on campus first day • Drop in enrollment • Impact on budget

Our COVID-19 Community Protection Plans had a positive impact on the school community and have transformed teaching and learning by: • Ensuring the safe re-opening of the VIS campus for the 2020-21 school year.

• Successfully integrating a long-term blended learning model, partnering with Global Online Academy, a well received approach by our distance-learning families.

• Promoting practices to reduce the risk of virus transmission and being responsive when facing changing health circumstances.

We recognized that we are dealing with different cultural norms in terms of aversion to or acceptance of risk, but we all shared a common goal: to safeguard our children and the people who care for them.

LIVING OUR VALUES: HOW WE TURNED A GLOBAL CRISIS INTO A SUCCESS STORY OUR CORE PRINCIPLES

We Guided Our Actions by Our Core Principles Balance, Repect, Resilience, Innovation, and Courage while adhering Laos’ Government guidelines and expectations.

BALANCE

COURAGE

We Brought Our Community Together We made key decisions to protect our families while finding ways of keeping a sustainable learning plan in place.

INNOVATION

We had Support Our VIS Friends, VIS Board of Trustees, Parents, NGO Leaders, Ambassadors, and other collaborators played a critical role. We benefited from their resourcefulness and support at every step of the journey.

We Planned Collaboratively We had a plan and relied on the expertise of a multidisciplinary team for its development and execution. This group helped us to communicate the needs and to stakeholders in innovative ways.

RESILIENCE

We Remained Flexible We faced challenges and uncertainty with courage and resilience. In a rapidly changing environment, being flexible allowed us to adapt to the circumstances as needed.

RESPECT

We Opened Communication Channels We had clear and regular communications with VIS parents, teachers, local schools, government agencies, and international organizations.

BACK ON CAMPUS: THE NEW TEACHING & LEARNING EXPERIENCE I would also like to thank you and your team for all of the support and guidance that you have been giving our parents over the last 8 months.

As was mentioned in the meeting, the parents were very pleased with how VIS handled Covid-19 and online learning with keeping the safety of our children as top priority.

- Community Liaison Office , US Embassy, Vientiane

VIS welcomed our learners back to campus on August 10 as per schedule. We stayed true to our values by: • Prioritizing our community health, safety and wellbeing, • Ensuring hygiene and health policies are research-based, clearly communicated, effectively implemented and diligently enforced, We developed the #ProtectOurBubbles campaign by promoting the creation of safe classrooms and social bubbles. Families played their part mainly by: • Developing safe habits at home by creating “safe home bubbles”.

• Creating “safe social bubbles” between families where agreed protocols were maintained.

Blended Learning We recognized that some students were not able to return to campus at the start of the new school year or had to self-isolate at some point due to Laos quarantine measures. We have accommodated all students through our blended learning model.

The last ten months have been a real test to our mission, vision, and values. As we respond to “our changing world”, we continue to embrace the idea of keeping our learners safe while maintaining our focus on quality instruction.

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Focus on: Training and Empowerment of SMEs in Lao Training and support will help uplift and improve the SME sector in Lao, providing a solid foundation for sustainable development

INSIGHT T R A I N IBUSINESS NG & EMPOW ERMENT

T

he Lao government’s new SME Service Centre provides training in book-keeping, writing business plans and much more. It holds regular workshops and events, including an annual Entrepreneurship Day (in partnership with the International Labour Organization) to promote startups and entrepreneurial creativity with discussions and networking sessions. The most recent event was held in Luang Prabang, and was attended by 500 guests.

The government has also recently founded the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion, which has been established to promote SMEs while improving their access to funds. It also works with other stakeholders – such as banks, government officials and industry officials – on outreach programmes to make them aware of the importance of SMEs, and how they can be helped via loans and technical scholarships.

Many SMEs end up borrowing money from one of the country’s 200 microfinance institutions – as banks won’t release funds to them – which have interest rates up to four times higher than banks. The Ministry of Finance has hired expert researchers to help develop micro-credit provisioning programmes via micro-finance institutions, thereby providing loans for a fixed term at a low interest rate. This will help boost the sector.

32 | APAC Outlook issue 47

‘...delegates from the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Ministry of Trade and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) met to discuss how digital tools could help SMEs in Laos’ Recently, delegates from the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Ministry of Trade and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) met to discuss how digital tools could help SMEs in Laos, especially during COVID-19. Representatives of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Communications, as well as successful entrepreneurs, shared knowledge and ideas on adapting to the digital economy. Solutions established included the introduction of real-world digital products and services onto the market, as well as establishing a forum for emerging SMEs in Lao, Cambodia and Myanmar to facilitate knowledge transfer.

THE LAO NATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (LNCCI)

www.mekongtimberplantations.com

Mekong Timber Plantations Co., Ltd is the largest private entity Forest Stewardship Council® certificate holder in Laos.

FSC is dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide. As an FSC certified forest manager, MTP aims to be a leading sustainable plantation forestry business in Asia. MTP holds license code FSC® C140421.

Key Players MEKONG TIMBER PLANTATIONS CO. Mekong Timber Plantations has goals to become a leading sustainable forestry plantations in Asia. It manages a 24,000 hectare plantation estate in Lao and ensures best practices in forest management, producing high-value hardwood timber for regional markets.

Xao Ban Group Healthy food products, from yoghurt to jam, made with local ingredients.

Tokyo Sushi A Japanese sushi and sashimi bar in Vientiane.

Phutawen Farm

VIENTIANE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Vientiane International School is an independent, not-for profit day school offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme for students aged three and up – the only school in the country to do so.

The school is accredited by both the Council of International Schools (CIS) and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), demonstrating its high standards of professional performance. Through its CIS/ WASC accreditation programme, continual improvement is encouraged through self-study and peer-to-peer evaluation.

Vientiane International School has a diverse community of students and teachers from over 50 countries, and empowers its students to become engaged, open-minded and critical thinkers.

A hub for sustainable and agritourism, offering cycle tours and gardening experiences, located a 90-minute drive from Vientiane.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 33

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

PHILIPPINES EXPORTS

The Philippines is renowned for its robust export industry, which is on the road to recovery after the shock of the coronavirus pandemic

INTRODUCTION

Writer: Dani Redd | Project Manager: Krisha Canlas

W

ith its increasing industrialisation and skilled workforce, the Philippines has one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia Pacific Region. Between 2010 – 2019, the country’s economy has been growing at an average annual rate of 6.4 percent.

Its semiconductor and manufacturing industry is the biggest economic growth driver in the Philippines, employing over three million workers directly and indirectly.

The Philippines also has a robust, thriving export industry. Unsurprisingly, electronics products are the country’s top export. According to a report by the Filipino government, they accounted for 55.9 percent of total exports between January 2019 and January 2020, with total earnings of $3.23 billion.

The same report also showed significant growth in other exports, in particular gold (a 46 percent growth) and other minerals (68.3 percent).

34 | APAC Outlook issue 47

FACTS & FIGURES Main product(s): Semiconductors; electronics; garments; copper products; mineral products Year-on-year growth: 9.7 percent GDP: $5.79 billion (January 2020) Percentage of GDP: 33 Highest export value trading partners: United States of America, Japan, Hong Kong

However, exports of machinery and transport equipment had contracted by 35.1 percent.

Despite such a robust economy, the Philippines exports industry suffered significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, in large part due to the stringent lockdowns imposed on the country to try and control cases – many companies were forced to halt production. In August 2020, exports had tumbled 18.6 percent since the previous year – the fifth consecutive month of decline.

Rescue and recovery Understandably, the government and organisations – including PHILEXPORT, which represents around 70 percent of the country’s export revenues – is keen to help the economy and its export industry recover.

As a private sector response, PHILEXPORT developed the “New Normal Export and MSME Roadmap” to help MSMEs and exporters transition to the ‘new normal’, while bridging the gap from the crisis to the strategies in the Philippine Export Development Plan. Overall, the roadmap aims to control the epidemic, restart and expand economic activities, and finally transition exports and SMEs to a digital economy. It is also working with the Small Business Corporation to provide loans for its members to help them restart production.

Ultimately, the Philippines’ exports will be a major economic driver, helping restore the jobs and Eleveted, night view livelihoods lost during the pandemic. ItofisMakati, hope thethat business government policies will stimulate recovery district ofand Metrohelp Manila businesses restart.

I INNTTRROODDUUCCTTI IOONN

PHILEXPORT

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 35

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Interview: PHILEXPORT

A S S O C I AT I O N

T

he Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. or PHILEXPORT, is the country’s umbrella organisation of exporters which is mandated, under the Export Development Act of 1994, to strengthen the country’s export industry through its export promotion and development programmes.

PHILEXPORT is a non-stock, non-profit service organisation endeavouring to help promote and grow the Philippines’ export industry in a sustainable manner.

Dr Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis To date, it has a membership of around 4,000 members, including companies and industry associations.

In fulfilling its mandate, PHILEXPORT implements numerous institutional and special projects and services in policy advocacy, facilitation and advisory, training, project development and more.

“As the unified voice of exporters, PHILEXPORT is actively engaged in policy discussions and deliberations on issues affecting the industry. Position papers and policy programmes are developed and implemented based on inputs generated from its Policy Committees,” explains Dr Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., President of PHILEXPORT. PHILEXPORT has likewise been a member and an active participant on various policy Committees, Councils and chambers of commerce, including the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and International Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ICCP).It sits as Vice Chairman at the Export Development Council, the highest export policymaking body in the country.

Through its Export Facilitation Department, PHILEXPORT is able to provide necessary frontline services such as trade advisory, facilitation and referral; buyer-seller and investment matching; trade fair participation; special promotions programs and selling missions to PHILEXPORT members and foreign clients.

36 | APAC Outlook issue 47

To help address the technical and funding requirements of PHILEXPORT and its members, PHILEXPORT networks with local and foreign partners in the implementation of developmental projects and training programmes.

It also manages the Regional and Sectoral Support Funds from which members may draw modest amounts to subsidise their projects for capability building, production of promotional collaterals, participation in trade shows, product development and productivity enhancement. It operates its bonded

PHILEXPORT’S OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK VISION: PHILEXPORT intends to work towards a sustainable development and prosperity for the Philippines and the Filipinos through exports.

MISSION:

PHILEXPORT shall lead the export community and work with government in the pursuit of an export-led national growth and development.

OBJECTIVE: PHILEXPORT aims to turn the Philippines into a globally competitive exporting nation by establishing an export-friendly environment and by further unifying and strengthening the export sector.

warehouse 1045 for miscellaneous goods, to enable its members to avail of the duty-free importation of their raw materials, inputs and packaging to manufacture goods for re-export.

Highlights and accomplishments Representing some 70 percent of the country’s export revenues from over 4,000 members nationwide, PHILEXPORT delivers critical programmes and services for the export community and the economy.

“Our advocacies are instrumental in helping ensure a conducive, competitive, sustainable trade environment through the years,” explains Dr Ortiz-Luis Jr. After the enactment of the Export Development Act in 1994, many other laws and policies were passed consistent with these objectives, including the Jewellery Development Act, Magna Carta for MSMEs,

E-commerce Law, Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, accession to the Kyoto Convention for trade facilitation and Export Development Act or EDA, which gave birth to, among others the World Trade Center. In 2006, PHILEXPORT facilitated the setting up of the WTC as a showcase and signal to the world of the Philippine intent to be a major exporter.

“At the moment, the WTC is being used as a quarantine facility mostly for returning OFWs. But as soon as it is already safe and practical, we will resume construction of a condotel and a 5-star hotel within the complex of the WTC, all of which sit on a 5.1 hectare land ceded to PHILEXPORT also under the EDA,” says the President.

The condotel will house the offices of the major business organisations in the country including the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Philippine Franchise Association, and GS 1.

A S S O C I AT I O N

PHILEXPORT

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 37

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Philippine exports in the ‘new normal’ “We are in a raging global war like no other. And we know that what makes this struggle formidable compared with historical records is the unseen deadly enemy. In this state, the virus has and continues to wreak havoc, compromise and destroy lives and economies worldwide,” says Dr Ortiz-Luis Jr. The Philippines had one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world, which resulted in severe economic damage. Exports, inevitably, were affected.

Exports declined by 18.6 percent in August to $5.13 billion and 9.1 percent year-on-year to $5.65 billion in July 2020, after a 12.5 percent to $5.33 billion dip from $6.15 billion in June 2019. This was the fifth consecutive month of decline recorded for exports, but a performance that has improved from the 50.8 percent drop in April 2020, its highest recorded contraction since January 2009 and 35.6 percent in May. “We are confident of our recovery based on this momentum, although export targets for the year

A S S O C I AT I O N

KEY INITIATIVES Some key policy initiatives and programmes by PHILEXPORT with the EDC include: • Approval of the Export Development Act of 1994; • Approval of the Magna Carta for MSMEs; ratification of the Revised Kyoto Convention; Amendments to the Customs Brokers Act and other laws; PHILEXPORT also led in pushing for the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 1994, setting the tone for the liberalisation of the banking, retail, telecommunications and transportation sectors. To this day, PHILEXPORT is actively involved in opening and expanding market access for Philippine products and services through the various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

“We also have a continuing advocacy for a competitive exchange rate and ease of doing business. Likewise, we played a major role in establishing the Brunei-Indonesia- MalaysiaPhilippines East Asia Growth Area or BIMP EAGA in 1994, the bar-coding system, and the Philippine Franchise and Retail Associations,” Dr Ortiz-Luis Jr. proclaims.

38 | APAC Outlook issue 47

• Streamlining of export procedures; • Elimination or reduction of certain export fees; • Industry participation in trade agreements; • Approval of the P280 million Export Promotion Fund and the P1 billion Export Support Fund; • Lending through industry associations to their members; • Waiver of travel tax for trade missions and promotion purposes

and 2021 have been reduced based on the current performance,” Dr Ortiz-Luis Jr. adds.

As part of the initial response, the government has implemented several economic relief measures.

Before the end of June, around P45 billion in subsidies were provided to 4.1 million formal and informal employees through government programmes including the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS), COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), TUPAD, and AKAP. Meanwhile, payment of residential and commercial rents and loans have also been extended to help especially MSMEs. “As these are evolving, business cannot just remain a spectator. Consistent with the safety and health protocols mandating physical or social distancing, establishments and enterprises have shifted business models mainly to remain afloat. It helped that prior to COVID-19, the medium and big-sized businesses were already preparing to adopt and adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution that embeds technology in almost every business function. In contrast, the micro and small enterprises, which are the most vulnerable in this crisis, are still in various levels of survival strategies,” Dr Ortiz-Luis Jr. explains.

“Within this context, PHILEXPORT is implementing its Road to FIRe (Fourth Industrial Revolution) Project

to handhold members upgrade to digital operations.

This is a project we are doing with the Departments of Science and Technology, DTI, Labor and Employment, and Development Academy of the Philippines.”

All in all, PHILEXPORT has reason to believe that the worst of the crisis is over, thanks to slow signs of economic recovery. The relaxing of quarantine measures in some countries, the gradual reopening of businesses and resumption of production suggest that the export sector is slowly getting back onto its feet.

A S S O C I AT I O N

PHILEXPORT

PHILIPPINE EXPORTERS CONFEDERATION INC (PHILEXPORT) Tel: (632) 230-5555 communications@philexport.ph www.philexport.ph

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 39

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

KEY PLAYERS The companies shaping and disrupting the export industry in the Philippines

BARRIO FIESTA Barrio Fiesta, a Prime Global Corporation Brand, sells and exports delicious Filipino food products, ranging from spicy pastes to stock cubes.

Shin-Etsu Magnetics Philippines Taganito HPAL Nickel Corp Amkor Technology Philippines Inc. New Davao Oil Mill Inc

40 | APAC Outlook issue 47

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Meinhardt EPCM | Thai Optical Group SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

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rtunity

CONSTRUCTION

I s s u e 47

ASteward of the

Community ASteward of the

Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic

Community Having last year marked 50 years in operation, Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Joshua Mann 2 | APAC Outlook issue 47

One never knows how bad a crisis is going to get, so the first concern for us was to set up our crisis management and emergency response teams. The first priority was to protect the health of our staff and customers, and while we’re just about out of what we call crisis mode, we’re still keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the situation and are now responding to the economic fallout.”

From celebrating a half century in existence in 2019 to running into a global pandemic, it has been an extraordinary year in the life of Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC) and its Group CEO, Aidan Lynam.

Speaking from a quarantined hotel room in Bangkok following a visit to his native Ireland, he sets a very positive tone despite the clear and obvious challenges that COVID-19 has brought about through the

course of 2020, this having just recently celebrated the company’s 50th birthday.

Indeed, for SCCC, the message is a resolute one – that society can and must continue to operate as best it can to navigate this crisis.

And although this year’s events appear somewhat unprecedented given the global reach of the pandemic, Siam City Cement is able to benefit from a degree of hindsight gained throughout its past.

SHOWING STRENGTH AND COMPASSION IN CHALLENGING TIMES

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 3

Nadya Krisko of Honeywell Aerospace explains why COVID-19 has seen the private jet increase in popularity

www.apacoutlookmag.com/work-with-us

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

ASteward of the

Community Having last year marked 50 years in operation, Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Joshua Mann 44 | APAC Outlook issue 47

CONSTRUCTION

One never knows how bad a crisis is going to get, so the first concern for us was to set up our crisis management and emergency response teams. The first priority was to protect the health of our staff and customers, and while we’re just about out of what we call crisis mode, we’re still keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the situation and are now responding to the economic fallout.”

From celebrating a half century in existence in 2019 to running into a global pandemic, it has been an extraordinary year in the life of Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC) and its Group CEO, Aidan Lynam.

Speaking from a quarantined hotel room in Bangkok following a visit to his native Ireland, he sets a very positive tone despite the clear and obvious challenges that COVID-19 has brought about through the

course of 2020, this having just recently celebrated the company’s 50th birthday.

Indeed, for SCCC, the message is a resolute one – that society can and must continue to operate as best it can to navigate this crisis.

And although this year’s events appear somewhat unprecedented given the global reach of the pandemic, Siam City Cement is able to benefit from a degree of hindsight gained throughout its past.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 45

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

COVID AND THE COMMUNITY The health and safety of employees and stakeholders comes first at SCCC, particularly at this time of pandemic crisis.

Siam City Cement Group Companies in Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia (INSEE Group) have made contributions to medical personnel, communities and authorities to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The contributions come in the form of donations, provision of protective gowns, face masks, hand sanitisers, food relief packages and cement supplies.

The COVID-19 contributions underscore Siam City Cement’s long-standing corporate social responsibility while reflecting its vision of working towards a sustainable future for all stakeholders.

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“Out here in Asia we’ve been through the avian flu and SARS epidemics over the past 15 years – so, for want of a better term, we’ve had some practice runs in how to deal with a health crisis,” Lynam says. “We’ve also been through financial crashes in decades gone by.”

The SCCC emergency response teams were meeting twice a week at the peak of the crisis, and Lynam explained that overall the company has done better than expected in coordinating its response across the numerous Asian markets in which it operates.

“I believe we’ve dealt with it well,” he 46 | APAC Outlook issue 47

continues. “We had our worst-case scenario planned out in each of our countries, but fortunately it did not materialise to the extent anticipated, although Sri Lanka came close at one stage.

We’re actually ahead of our budget there, which is pretty remarkable.

The B2B side of the business softened, but the retail B2C segments have largely remained buoyant, especially in the rural areas of our markets.

“Overall, if you take the average across the Group, we’re running at about minus 12-15 percent in revenues, but we had planned for an even deeper decline and are thankful

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SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) for our diversification of revenue streams. The industry has been quite resilient, particularly in emerging markets which are determined to keep economic activity going.”

A FIRM GROUNDING So, with the COVID-19 crisis moved to one side, where does SCCC stand on the regional cement stage?

A glance at its illustrious legacy and current footprint provides a telling answer. For more than 50 years the company has been supplying critical infrastructure developments across both its home country of Thailand and further afield.

Indeed, having built up such a solid Thai legacy, in 2016 the firm branched out regionally with acquisitions in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, this having set up a joint venture with Cambodia’s Chip Mong Group in the previous year.

“These acquisitions and participations place SCCC in strong positions near the major current and emerging consumptions centres in the Mekong arena of Southeast Asia, and in the strong growth markets of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” Lynam adds.

“The Thai industry is serving an already quite developed market which exhibits moderate growth over its inherent cycles, whilst the other markets served by the SCCC Group are characterised by more emerging market growth rates with growing population rates and rising GDP per capita levels over the medium to long term.

“Thus, SCCC is extremely well placed in positions exposed to solid cement and building materials demand growth for the future.”

He also points out that the company is not the only organisation sensing the size of the opportunity.

Competition in the industry is, in Lynam’s words, “frenetic”, with structural and fragmented overcapacity meaning customers are faced with a plethora of choices from different cement players who bring different strategies to the market in terms of product quality and cost.

But the demand for its products is continuing to grow across the region, with governmental urbanisation drives resulting in enormous cement consumption at rates above 500 or even 600 kilos per capita in places.

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Over the last 2.5 years, Korn Ferry has been partnering with Siam City Cement Company (SCCC) on their strategic journey, growing from a Thailand-only-organisation to a prominent internationalised industrial player in ASEAN, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Working closely with SCCC’s board and senior management, we have partnered with SCCC to create the right organisational structure and translate their strategy into something they can operationalise, by aligning both the tangible elements of the organisation - people, structure and process - and the intangible elements - motivations, relationships and culture. With Korn Ferry’s assessments and solutions, SCCC’s leadership team could exceed their potential by having a clear understanding of their strengths and how they could close gaps.

With Korn Ferry’s decades of experience and industry-specific expertise we help SCCC identify and develop new leaders internally, as well as hire key talent externally.

Korn Ferry is proud to be the trusted talent partner of SCCC, enabling SCCC and its leaders along their inspiring growth journey.

“ALL OF OUR STAFF ARE PROUD TO BUILD ON THE WORK OF OUR PREDECESSORS WHO HAVE BROUGHT THE COMPANY TO WHERE IT IS TODAY OVER THE COURSE OF FIVE DECADES” – AIDAN JOHN LYNAM, GROUP CEO 48 | APAC Outlook issue 47

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SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) In terms of its own positioning and value offering, SCCC is already renowned for presenting quality cement-based products at fair prices to its various markets, this being its main activity alongside concrete and aggregates as well as clinker and cement trading.

Its formidable footprint across the region comprises around 5,000 members of staff who serve a variety of customer segments covering B2B and B2C landscapes.

SCCC’s total cement producing capacity amounts to more than 25 million tonnes per year and is spread across eight to nine kiln lines and 12 grinding stations. Its large readymix concrete unit in Thailand manages up to a hundred batching plants and two large aggregate processing lines, while SCCC also operates a fibrous cement business (branded Conwood) in Thailand and Indonesia, along with a mortar business and a lightweight block company in its home country.

The large trading side of the business handles over seven million tonnes of product (clinker, cement and coal) volumes per annum around numerous Asian export markets.

Meanwhile, the Group has a large and well-established waste management unit, sub-branded as Ecocycle, serving clients’ needs for environmental solutions and industrial services.

“The early pioneers of SCCC built a solid foundation over 50 years ago from its initial plant footprint at Saraburi, Thailand in 1969, and

SCCC Plant, Thailand

50 | APAC Outlook issue 47

extended the operations to become one of the world’s largest single cement facilities,” Lynam says.

“All of our staff are proud to build on the work of our predecessors who have brought the company to where it is today over the course of five decades.

“It is half a century of dedication to excellence and to delivering quality products and services to our customers. All our employees are proud to be part of such a rich history, with its Thai heritage operating with international level competence and with a reputed corporate brand and firmly established asset footprint. We are very well positioned across the region we operate in, setting the Group up for strong growth and future success.”

Specifically, the Group CEO points to customer centricity and respect for all stakeholders, particularly in the communities around us, as truly distinguishing features of the organisation.

“These are fundamental hallmarks of why the Group has grown to become a reputed and well appreciated partner around the region in all the markets we are present in,” Lynam continues.

“We develop our people with a career-long perspective and stay well abreast of latest technologies and practices. We believe we differentiate through providing value-adding products and services which are tailored to customers’ needs, and by delivering peace of mind via well appreciated product brands.”

Siam Refractory Industry Company Limited The Siam Refractory Industry Company Limited is one of the world’s leading refractory manufacturers that has gained the trust of customers worldwide since 1953. We are their business partner that offer the refractory one-stop Pyro-Process solutions, at present as well as in the future.

We specialise in producing World Class refractory materials and offering comprehensive technical services that can accommodate and support the expansion of the industries that require heat in their production processes such as Cement, Lime, Power Boiler, Refinery & Chemical and Aluminium etc.

Equipped with advanced manufacturing technologies, we provide a wide range of products and services to fulfill the needs of our clients, offering them the utmost satisfaction.

Our products are; Fireclay Bricks, High Alumina Bricks, Basic Bricks with AntiHydration Technology which we are the first innovator of this technology, Insulating Bricks and Precast Shapes as well as Monolithic Products and Others materials related to refractory installation of the above materials In addition to product quality and the selection of the material which best suits specific requirement, we have thrived on developing our installation of our high-value added products to maintain a longer service life, boost up confidence and working efficiency for customers’ maximum benefits.

Therefore, Siam Refractory offers a full range of technical services performed by highly competence teams of all vastly experienced engineers. We work closely with the clients both in Thailand and abroad providing accumulated skills and expertise in refractories starting from design and planning to supervise of the installation works also, efficient resolution of all problems including waste management after done all refractory work processes.

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SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

GCP Applied Technologies

PRODUCT FOCUS

LOW-CARBON SOLUTIONS SCCC is leveraging key drivers for the reduction of its carbon footprint by: - Maximising the coprocessing of waste of other industries, replacing fossil fuels - Increasing the use of renewable energy with waste heat recovery and rooftop and floating solar units - Encouraging the use of superior blended and hydraulic cements with a lower clinker factor - Using high performance aggregates and promoting more efficient use of concrete for buildings and more durable concrete for longer lasting infrastructure Over recent years, SCCC has made significant progress in the use of superior blended and hydraulic cements, leading the market towards a better and more sustainable cement and concrete: THAILAND: Launch of the hydraulic cement INSEE Petch Plus in bag. For ready-mix concrete, the hydraulic cement INSEE Petch Easy Flow in bulk has become a reference for high quality cement Hydraulic cement INSEE Petch Plus SRI LANKA: Continuous development of superior blended cements across all segments CAMBODIA: Launch of the hydraulic cement “Camel Strong” in retail. For ready-mix concrete, launch of the new hydraulic cement “Diamond Extra” VIETNAM: Launch of the improved bag cement “Lavilla Extra”, classified as the highest level “Leader” by Singapore Green Building Products

GREEN AT HEART Another critical element of SCCC’s identity is its standing as a pioneer of sustainable operations and responsible practices, both internally and within the wider community.

The cement industry itself is not actually a carbon-dense contributor in comparison to other commonly used building materials, but this is not to say that the imperative to become leaner and greener is not there – in fact, for SCCC the opposite is very much the truth.

52 | APAC Outlook issue 47

“Most of us are aware of climate change, and of the fact that humankind is currently consuming resources at a rate beyond which our plant can sustain long term,” Lynam says.

“Cement and concrete are, to date, some of the lowest carbon intensive building materials per unit of strength and per unit of cost. That said, it is incumbent on the industry worldwide to play its part, alongside others in the construction value-chain, in continuously reducing the carbon intensity of the built environment.

For 80+ years, we have been helping cement producers optimize their products and gain new business opportunities.

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Our additives also play a key role in sustainable cement production by lowering CO2 emissions, allowing reduced clinker and increasing mill output.

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ESTEC ESTEC is proud to have been an INSEE Vietnam vendor in many years, working with them on some remarkable projects. In 2017, ESTEC successfully upgraded the DCS (Distributed Control System) for the Thi Vai Grinding Terminal, from its conception in 2004, to the latest version of Siemens DCS with Simatic PCS7 & Cemat V8.2 – a specialised control system for its cement plant.

In 2019, ESTEC supplied and installed a Flender gearbox, H3SH21 for a rotary kiln in the Hon Chong Plant, increasing its capacity by 10 percent as a result.

This year 2020, ESTEC will replace the 20-year old gearbox in its Coal Mill to the Flender gearbox KMP 300.

This special gearbox is for a vertical mill at the Hon Chong Plant. Thanks to the trustful partnership with INSEE Vietnam, ESTEC is heading with best servicing to INSEE.

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POWER OF ENGINEERING! www.estec.vn | T: (+84 28) 5446 4649 | E: info@biendongco.vn APAC Outlook issue 47 | 53

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) “SCCC understands that we have a responsibility to work with architects to design full-life-cycle living and work spaces, and to work with civil designers to use the most effective sustainable designs with maximised usage of lower carbon materials.

“We further acknowledge that, within the need for low carbon approaches from architects, urban planners and civil design engineers, the overall cement and clinker intensity in concrete should be minimised for any given strength class or application of concrete and that, in

turn, the carbon intensity of cement, and its associated semi-finished product, clinker, must be reduced continuously over time.”

Importantly, SCCC converts its concern for the welfare of people and planet into tangible action across an enormous range of activities, not only because of the aforementioned reasons, but because it also makes good business sense.

Indeed, its sustainable development roadmap consists of five major axes which the company is currently in the process of realigning.

DIGITAL DEPLOYMENT Q: What is SCCC’s approach to adopting technology?

Aidan Lynam: “At SCCC we understand the need to form solutions which address clear customer pain points, and we are also continuously embedding technology in our plants and processes.

“We deploy digitalisation on a business-needs basis as opposed to a ‘glossy’ nice-to-have basis. We run SAP Hana with an array of digital CRM, procurement, and logistics management bolt-ons. Our IT services centre, INSEE Digital, assures we are up to date with all of the latest digital solutions and practices allowing our customers and other stakeholders such as suppliers and others to interface with our company using the latest digital applications. Our plants are equipped with latest grades of process controls using expert systems and AI driven applications.

“We understand that the customers of today and of tomorrow are demanding speedier, more accessible, more flexible ways to interface with us. We deploy digital apps and solutions to connect them with our ordering, despatch, and payments systems.”

Kauls & Co

Global Tading and Engineering Congratulations: 50 years of SCCC. Kauls & Co. is happy and proud being involved in the development of one of the largest cement manufacturers in Asia since the very beginning.

Established in 1969 Kauls & Co. started supplying refractory material for the new cement factories. Over 50 years and a generation later, Kauls & Co. has unrivalled expertise and long-established relationship with the cement and manufacturing industry in South East Asia and beyond.

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APAC Outlook issue 47 | 55

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) The first revolves around occupational health and safety. Here, the company is determined to assure the wellbeing of all staff and visitors at every facility across the network, the goal of zero harm very much sitting at the top of the SCCC agenda.

Second is reducing carbon footprint. This includes steering the product portfolio towards less carbon intensive products such as composite cements, high strength concrete and aggregates, using lowest energy intensive clinkers with a maximised amount of waste derived fuels, and using lowest thermal and electrical energy-based processes.

The third axis involves the company lowering its water footprint, not only in terms of consumption at its plants and facilities, but also utilising as much surface water as possible with minimised offtake of ground water.

Assuring best biodiversity practices at all quarries and facilities represents the fourth axis. SCCC has a memorandum of understanding with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a mechanism whereby IUCN supports the company in the deployment of best initiatives which seek to avoid or mitigate biodiversity impacts.

The fifth and final axis is all about fostering positive social responsibility.

This involves respecting neighbouring communities and deploying meaningful CSR engagements, all the while assuring gender equality and respect for diversity in the workplace. Developing skills among local communities is also vital, INSEE Vietnam and the JV in Cambodia running their own in-house Enterprise Based Vocational Education units to apprentice technicians in mechanical and electrical maintenance and the process of cement production, whilst using the entire factory installations as the platform for embedded practical training. Apprentices gain nationally accredited diplomas and are upskilled with a world class curriculum to 56 | APAC Outlook issue 47

SCCC and IUCN MOU ceremony in 2015

INSEE Vietnam Enterprise Based Vocational Education at the Hon Chong cement plant be selected for employment in the Company, or to work elsewhere with life-long marketable skills which their communities vitally need.

All of this CSR and sustainable development activity is underpinned by a specific theme – Green Heart.

“We believe that the success factors for a sustainable development policy and objectives come from knowledge, mindset and cooperation from employees and stakeholders,” Lynam explains.

“It is not just a concept but a set of actions which employees commit to, with pride. The company’s Thailand units have set Green Heart as the main theme for sustainability and CSR initiatives by focusing on activities which create awareness for

environment, community and society by welcoming voluntary employees and stakeholders to participate in those activities.”

The Group CEO goes on to cite numerous examples of specific projects being carried out under the Green Heart umbrella.

These include the Green Heart Bank scheme, deployed at its facility in Saraburi, northeast of Bangkok, where it encourages employees to separate waste and deposit at the site each month. The idea is to engage staff on sustainable development and change behaviour patterns so that recycling is the norm – items such as office paper, plastic containers, glass bottles and aluminium cans are collected by the Green Heart Bank.

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APAC Outlook issue 47 | 57

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

INSEE Thailand employee volunteers under Green Heart Club

STRENGTHENED

BY SOLAR

One Child – One Tree programme - INSEE Lanka Meanwhile, a similar Green Village scheme supports communities nearby to separate waste and also engages in the planting of trees. Related to this is the One Child – One Tree programme, an initiative of INSEE Lanka which celebrates the birth of every child by gifting a fruit plant, the idea being to inspire and ignite youngsters to mind about the environment in the future.

ONE INSEE, ONE TEAM The continuation of such sustainable and responsible endeavours both within SCCC and its wider 58 | APAC Outlook issue 47

At the manufacturing facility at Touk Meas in Kampot province in Cambodia, Chip Mong INSEE Cement Corporation (CMIC) – a joint venture between Chip Mong Group (CMG) of Cambodia and Siam City Cement Group (SCCC) of Thailand – has commissioned in 2018, an 8MW Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system. This was designed, supplied and built in record time by CITIC Heavy Industries, in a mere 12 months from contract signing to completion of performance testing.

CMIC worked in parallel with the WHR’s construction to rapidly accomplish the second step of its journey, managing to commission a PV solar power system with a rating of 9.8MWp, in early 2019.

The equipment was installed inside the cement plant on the rooftops of expansive buildings and also in floating format at the 180,000 cubic metre water reservoir, bringing the total green power generation capacity to 33 percent of the plant’s total needs.

communities is, of course, a major priority for the firm as the conversation turns towards the road ahead. This will require a continuing strong performance commercially, and the company is ambitious when it comes to expanding further into the company’s newer and more emerging markets.

“The fundamentals of demand for building products are driven mostly through rising populations in economies which are exhibiting strong GDP per capita growth,” Lynam explains.

“SCCC is positioned in some of Asia’s most robust growth markets, from Cambodia and Sri Lanka to Vietnam and Bangladesh. As capacity approaches high utilisation rates, we have our eyes on expansion in all of these markets.

“In Thailand we are growing profitability off the existing well positioned cement manufacturing asset base whilst also growing the lighter asset classes of light building materials, trading activities, and waste management and industrial services.”

And although SCCC is busy in several different countries, the group very much operates along the mantra of One INSEE, One Team, with harmonized systems and processes across the single Group and wellcoordinated operations and growth initiatives in the empowered hands of a unified team.

“We believe in recognising employee success and achievements and in celebrating ‘along the way’, be it in regular staff gatherings and townhalls or awards events annually or throughout the year,” Lynam continues.

CONSTRUCTION

Aluminium Flakes for the manufacture of aerated concrete and construction chemical applications for Building Materials

Neolight AUTHORISED AGENT IN THAILAND

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APAC Outlook issue 47 | 59

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) “Recognition can be very simple and ‘on the spot’ in appreciating good efforts – daily, simple interactions between management and staff are important to us. At SCCC we believe in developing and empowering our staff to continuously improve and to grow, to self-develop and to prosper with the company.”

He also reinforces the message about health and safety being the number one priority moving forward, with SCCC’s leadership made accountable to assure the wellbeing of all its employees and visitors to its facilities. From regular formal internal IN FOCUS

PRESERVING WATER IN CAMBODIA Though Cambodia is a tropical country, where the monsoon season brings large amount of water, the proper management of this vital resource is critical.

The dry season is long and requires enough reserves to sustain communities. CMIC is committed to saving water and has established specific targets to reduce water consumption, measured as litres per tonne of cement production.

The main success factors are the reduction of water withdrawal, the optimisation of water consumption, the control of water loss and water-saving awareness. To achieve this goal, CMIC is also increasing its surface water reservoir volume by constructing ponds and utilising open quarry pits, which will provide approximately additional 50,000 cubic metres of water harvesting by 2022.

60 | APAC Outlook issue 47

communications using digital tools to face to face interactions via monthly town halls and check-ins, regular feedback is taken and acted upon.

The communication stream is very much a two-way dialogue, the company striving to realise the importance of assuring that directional and functional objectives are understood well by all staff, and then assuring unambiguous clarity on what any leader or employee is accountable for.

“We have, together, come through a very traumatic and anxiety-laden period with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lynam adds. “And our staff in all corners of the organisation have proudly risen to the occasion, demonstrating a strong and combined corps d’esprit, showing the

“WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS FOR THE LONG TERM AND WE OFFER LONG TERM SERVICES AND PRODUCT UPTAKE IN A SPIRIT OF MUTUAL PARTNERING AND SHARING OF THE CO-CREATED VALUE”

CONSTRUCTION

indomitable pulse of the INSEE heart.”

Every day the firm relies on numerous partnerships with stakeholders up and down the supply chain, a fact which is not lost on Lynam, who explains how such relationships will become even more critical as further expansion at SCCC arrives in the months and years ahead.

Indeed where suppliers are concerned, he says that the very nature of manufacturing and delivering building materials requires best practices in supply chain and logistics excellence over the long term, not least during times when disruption levels are high.

“SCCC supports the philosophy of building long lasting partnerships and relationships with suppliers and

logistics providers,” he adds. “We are in the business for the long term and we offer long term services and product uptake in a spirit of mutual partnering and sharing of the co-created value.

“We prefer to work on a total cost of ownership basis over full product and service lifecycles. We believe in the notion of a ‘fair deal’ and offer transparency and equitable relationships.

“We want to work with suppliers who have similar mindsets and who place value on governance, sustainability and the longer term.

Suppliers who value safety and the health and wellbeing of their own employees and their sub-suppliers in turn normally tend to share our mindsets – this supports mutual brand

and reputation building.”

Indeed, delivering long-term objectives to customers, employees and other stakeholders forms the crux of SCCC’s strategy for the future.

In the more immediate term, the priority remains to emerge as strongly as possible from the current economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uncertainty still remains as to the extent of disruption and economic fallout that will follow over the next couple of years, meaning that the SCCC leadership is focusing staff on what they can control – from internal procedures and processes to innovation and enhanced offerings and service to its customers.

The Group CEO concludes: “Having well managed the immediate and initial crisis, we have our targets set on emerging fitter, more agile and more competitive.

“We are focusing on competitive go-to-market approaches which place the customer firmly at the centre, welded to the never-ending quest for improved internal efficiencies.

Currently, with visibility low for the coming period through 2021 and 2022, SCCC is taking a prudent and yet ambitious approach, assuring a strong balance sheet which renders us, along with a productive leadership and workforce, extremely well positioned for future growth in the Asian markets, both organic and otherwise.”

“We continue to prioritise being a respected and highly valued participant in the Asian growth story, and in delivering superior customer service and product quality”.

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) Tel: +662 797 7000 wecare@siamcitycement.com www.siamcitycement.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 61

MEINHARDT-BONACCI

Engineering Australia

62 | APAC Outlook issue 47

CONSTRUCTION We spoke to John Williams, CEO of Meinhardt-Bonacci, about the Australian construction and engineering industry, and how the company strives to provide innovative, green, and quality services to clients across the globe Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Eddie Clinton

T

he Australian construction and engineering industries are in a state of continual evolution – production efficiency, sustainability practices, and new design challenges and techniques to successfully implement innovation in the sector are the driving forces of positive and progressive change.

However, this has not come without its challenges. For Meinhardt-Bonacci, the specialist engineering firm under the banner of the internationally spanning Meinhardt Group, an example of these challenges is shown through the slowed implementation of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) due to obstacles in the past year.

DfMA is aimed to develop innovative, sustainable, and efficient industry techniques to reduce on-site construction assembly and project costs and is implemented in a wide array of sector projects across the board. This has been affected by multiple challenges, including the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this, the firm is steadfast in maintaining its quality service while adhering to all necessary safeguarding measures to reduce the potential spread of the virus.

As a key branch of the overarching company, Meinhardt-Bonacci are a specialist structural, civil, and façade engineering firm that commit themselves to producing innovative design solutions to meet the various needs of international clients since its original founding in 1981.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 63

MEINHARDT-BONACCI “We now have a combined 60 plus years’ experience of service within the engineering industry,” begins John Williams, CEO of Meinhardt-Bonacci.

“Both in Australia and internationally we have built a good reputation for our high-quality service, innovative ideas, and cost-effective designs.”

DEFENCE ENGINEERING MEINHARDT-BONACCI have and are currently providing engineering consultancy services to Australia’s defence sector.

Notable projects include: - New Air Combat Capability – Williamtown RAAF Base - Williamtown RAAF Base Stage 2 – Redevelopment - New Air Combat Capability – Tindal RAAF Base - Holsworthy Barracks - Puckapunyal Military Area (PMA) Project - RAAF Base East Sale (Victoria) - HMAS Cerberus, Hastings (Victoria) - Land 21 Maintainer Training Facility (Victoria) - RAAF Air 5431

John Williams, CEO

64 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Today, the firm stands with a global team of 5,000 individuals across 52 offices delivering projects of the highest quality to industry clients.

The teams based in Australia alone serve the aforementioned clients from offices in a variety of locations including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Auckland.

“Our strong base and clientele in Australia, as well as robust global presence granted by our quality services in the sector provide us with an advantage in the industry and stand us apart from competitors,” John Williams tells us. “While providing engineering services, our branch now also offers clients of the Australian market on investment and technical advisory services across the entire project cycle through our subsidiary ‘MGI Capital’.”

This expansion of services provides industry clients with broader options and presents the firm with equally broader opportunities for expansion and growth to serve a wider customer base. It also provides MeinhardtBonacci with the grounding and consolidation of varying industry sectors to meet the needs of those clients.

EXPANDING EXPERTISE In January 2020, Bonacci Group merged with the Meinhardt Group with the purpose of broadening the expertise of both companies and combine their international experiences to grow and better serve their client base in the construction and engineering industry.

This merge has allowed the company to achieve exactly that, and it is shown through each of its impressive international projects.

One of these is the Ribbon Hotel, located in Darling Harbour, Sydney - a redevelopment of the Sydney IMAX Retail and Entertainment Complex.

It is known for its magnificent views of the harbour frontage and the complex showcases a 22-storey tower cantilevering 27 meters horizontally.

Wotton + Kearney The Australian construction industry has undergone an unprecedented level of change over recent years driven principally by government and industry response to a number of significant events, such as the cladding crisis and systemic building defect issues. Both legislative and regulatory reforms loom large and present a new set of challenges for the construction industry and its stakeholders.

Managing these challenges into the future in a proactive and planned manner is likely to provide real opportunities for the industry in what is becoming an increasingly important part of Australia’s economic recovery.

Wotton + Kearney is proud to assist Meinhardt-Bonacci to manage their construction and engineering claims in Australia. For more information, contact nick.lux@wottonkearney.com.au.

www.wottonkearney.com.au

PC Recruitment ‘Look-out’ for Talent COVID-19 effects are known. We see a ‘bullish’ outlook in the region for recovery and continuance. Great leaders attribute success to their people. The procurement of such an important ‘asset’ should take ‘center stage’, especially now.

It is with great pride we partner Meinhardt-Bonacci in their processes to hire the best talent. The uniqueness of individuals, makes it sensible to compare. Whilst not party to the hiring decision, we provide sterling choices without obligation.

As most of our Principal Recruiters have over 2 decades servicing Structural and Civil Engineering Professionals, we proudly excel and lead.

We wish Meinhardt-Bonacci the best.

civiljobs.com.au

CONSTRUCTION

Leaders in construction & engineering risk

Contact: nick.lux@wottonkearney.com.au www.wottonkearney.com.au “Known for their experience in claims involving the construction, infrastructure and energy sectors.”

CHAMBERS ASIA-PACIFIC, 2020

PEOPLE, YOUR GREATEST ASSET? then, candidate acquisition is equally as important

Civiljobs.com.au Civiljobs.co.nz Structuraljobs.co.nz Structuraljobs.com.au We provide valuable access to 'HIGH FLYERS' to each other within APAC

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 65

MEINHARDT-BONACCI “The Ribbon Hotel provides a six-star hotel with over 400 rooms, serviced apartments, a world-class IMAX theatre, quality restaurants, and a retail space with a function centre,” John Williams explains.

“The complex will feature large floor plates up to 3,500 meter-squared, all interconnected with voids and stairs, providing efficient and collaborative space.”

The project is an aspirant of a six-star Green Star design. In order to achieve this level of sustainability, tri-generation green technology is implemented to provide the complex with low carbon electricity, heating, and cooling, as well as the integration of solar panels to the curved ribbon roof to provide on-site electricity.

“The building is a special project to Meinhardt-Bonacci as we are proud to

VALUES AND AWARDS Our company values are encompassed in each and every project. The firm’s design acumen and creative ability is demonstrated by the awards we have been nominated for and the accolades that we have received: COMPANY VALUES: - LEARNING: We are constantly building on our knowledge and expertise - INNOVATION: We think outside the square - CLIENT COMMITMENT: We aim to gain a holistic understanding of your vision - COLLABORATION: We are one team - EXCELLENCE: We produce exceptional value-added results PROJECT AWARDS: VICTORIAN COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTRE - Australian Engineering Excellence Awards (AEEA) Victoria Awards 2016 - Chief Judge’s Award The Ribbon Hotel, Sydney - Association of Consulting Structural Engineers (ACSE) 2020 Excellence in Engineering Awards – The Ribbon Tie Floors - nominated for the unusual projects category RMIT University - Swanston Academic Building - The Victoria Engineering Excellence Awards (VEEA 2014) UTS – Spiral Staircase - Association of Consulting Structural Engineers (ACSE) 2019 Excellence in Engineering Awards – High Commendation for the innovative engineering award Lighthouse, Dee Why - Awarded the winner of the Property Council Award 2020 Best MixedUse Development.

66 | APAC Outlook issue 47

work on a project that will become an architectural focus and landmark for Sydney in the many years to come,” John Williams tells us.

“It presented as a challenge in terms of engineering design and innovation that the team was happy to tackle.

They provided innovative ideas as the project encountered some unique and unusual design constraints and challenges in order to achieve the unusual curved architectural form, “The curvilinear shape required raking columns on both the east and west building envelope resulting in large lateral loads that were resolved via a strut and tie system,” he adds.

This complex exemplifies Meinhardt-Bonacci’s growth and broadening of services, as well as the professionalism provided by a firm with decades of industry experience and know-how.

“The acquisition from Meinhardt has greatly benefitted the company,” John Williams says. “Meinhardt-Bonacci can now offer more engineering consultancy services, such as the addition of building services (hydraulic, fire, and mechanical engineering), detailed design engineering, and certification of BMU support systems to our clients and projects.”

ONWARD AND UPWARD Amid the hard work, innovative projects, and aforementioned challenges, a key factor to the driving success of Meinhardt-Bonacci is its relationship with its supply chain partners – individuals and businesses that are highlighted as an important aspect of past, present, and future company endeavours.

“We are part of the ‘Prequalification Scheme for Consultants in Construction’ which enables us to provide quality engineering consultancy services for governmentfunded schools and hospitals in which we are always engaged in,” John Williams explains.

CONSTRUCTION

RMIT University - Swanston Academic Building “We have also recently been successful in being regarded as an Authorised Engineering Organisation (AEO). Meinhardt-Bonacci will be able to deliver and engage in engineering services collaboratively with Transport for NSW (TfNSW).”

Over the coming years, the firm’s key priorities are to continue with its successes in school infrastructure and NSW health projects, as well as increased collaboration with its building services and subsidiary

Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC)

branch MGI Capital, and working with TfNSW closely on various projects including the engineering and design for bridges.

Meinhardt-Bonacci remains steadfast, innovative, and progressive as it moves through 2020 and into the new year.

MEINHARDT-BONACCI Tel: +61 2 8247 8400 John.Williams@Meinhardt-Bonacci.com www.meinhardtgroup.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 67

MEINHARDT EPCM

Looking to the Next Horizon Meinhardt EPCM’s Vinesh Natali talks about the building industry’s past, present, and future, the company always looking ahead to the next trend in construction Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Ryan Gray 68 | APAC Outlook issue 47

CONSTRUCTION

T

he engineering industry is one that paves the way for the progressive future of countries and cities.

Throughout time, civilisations have pioneered new and innovative ways of using all manner of materials to construct buildings spanning a tremendous array of shapes and sizes, the

constructs seen today unfathomable to architects and engineers of yesteryear.

Such developments have enabled cities to house more people and, as populations continue to soar, it is imperative now more than ever to maximise the use of space.

In Asia-Pacific, Meinhardt EPCM stands as a prominent player in the

engineering and construction sphere.

Established by founder Bill Meinhardt in Australia in 1955, the firm has grown into a regional player in Asia Pacific, its present-day headquarters now situated in Singapore. From here and its other regional offices, the company provides professional civil and structural engineering, infrastructure APAC Outlook issue 47 | 69

MEINHARDT EPCM

Kee Yang Construction KEE YANG CONSTRUCTION SDN BHD was incorporated in 2003 in the provision of quality civil and structure construction works.

We were appointed as a service and maintenance contractor for oil and gas retail outlets in Sabah and Sarawak for more than a decade, adapting to their quality standards and safety practices.

Our main objectives are to deliver efficient, safe, quality and cost effective projects.

planning, sustainability planning, and a multitude of other services to international clientele.

The results for clients’ investments are award-winning buildings, urban development, transportation and infrastructure projects, advanced manufacturing, and smart technologies, among other outcomes.

KEY SERVICES Meinhardt provides clients a variety of services within the engineering and construction sector: • Lead consultancy, civil and structural, MEP engineering, infrastructure planning.

• Design management, construction and PM, EPCM, environmental sustainability.

• Specialist lighting, technical advisory, commercial advisory, value engineering.

• Facades, fire performance, asset management, architecture.

70 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Vinesh Natali has been with the company for over five years and sits as the firm’s Global Head for the EPCM business, having witnessed not only the growth of Meinhardt EPCM to its current 350 employees, but also the development of the entire EPCM service sector.

“The fundamentals haven’t changed, the way of thinking has,” he says.

Interestingly, Mr Natali had not aimed to work in the engineering industry.

“I wanted to become an architect, but while pursuing the career path I chose engineering – electrical engineering was my technical field,” he continues.

“Looking back, I think it was the right choice to make at the time because, naturally, engineering took me across several countries and regions to work across a variety of projects in multiple sectors,” he says.

Mr Natali’s experience in the industry allowed him to work professionally for projects of different sizes, from the smallest developments to larger buildings and even mega-projects. All the while he continued upwards, he held to a specific value that he believes is key to progressive development, both in the industry sector and in his own work.

Tel +6082 344 200

Infinite Project Management Infinite Project Management was founded in 2008 to pursue the company’s objective in the provision of health and safety, quality construction works and project management works in Malaysia.

Our company was awarded Malaysia Best Contractor for the Eastern region in 2010 and 2011. We were named The Best Contractor for the East region which comprised of nine countries in 2010 and 2011. We were also awarded the SHELL Network Programme with a massive achievement of the completion of 250 projects.

Our mission is to continuously implement health, safety, security and environmental (HSSE) standards, maintaining high quality and delivery.

donald.liew@ipm.com.my

CONSTRUCTION

Our Specialties : • Petrol Retail Construction and Maintenance • Fast Track Building Construction • Steel Fabrication and Structure 2nd Floor, Sublot 4, 9113 Section 64, Lot 10146, Jalan Kwong Lee Bank, 93450 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia | Tel no. +6082 344 200

OUR SERVICES • C&S Consulting Engineer • Project Management • Design & Build • Building Construction • Steel Fabrication & Structure • Petrol Retail Construction Infinite Project Management Sdn Bhd, No.2, Lorong Teknologi C & PJU 5, Taman Sains Selangor 1, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan Tel: +603 7491 3139 Email: service.info@ipm.com.my

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 71

MEINHARDT EPCM “During my career, one thing I made sure of is that I stayed true to the profession rather than chasing quick monetary benefits,” Mr Natali says.

“That really developed a very strong foundation in my career growth.

“That was a very good investment of time and efforts. Naturally, there were many opportunities that came along in the sector with higher benefits, but I stayed true to the course.”

Through utilising knowledge and skills rather than harbouring a monetary focus, he was able to be flexible and involve himself in a multitude of projects spanning sectors, allowing him to gain knowledge and experience across the board.

And on top of this, it gave him the opportunity to work with others and develop together, sharing industry knowledge between each other that

PROJECT PORTFOLIO Over the years Meinhardt EPCM has consulted on and developed many high-end structures in various areas around Asia Pacific. Among its recent client projects are: SHELL: Meinhardt has a Global Agreement with Shell to provide EPCM services for the development of its Retail Fuel market in SE Asia. Through this engagement Meinhardt has developed and grown its expertise in the delivery of Retail Fuel stations by bringing in innovation, good industry practise, sustainable solutions and modular building concepts to meet our clients aspirations of speed to market and reduction in cost while ensuring uncompromising HSSE practises and record.

NESTLE: Meinhardt has a regional agreement with Nestle to support its projects in SE Asia. Meinhardt has supported Nestle in Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines to build manufacturing facilities for various products. From Water bottling to food manufacturing, Meinhardt has supported Nestle in the E2E delivery of the projects.

CONTINENTAL TYRES: Meinhardt is working with German supplier, Continental to support its development and expansion in Asia. Continental manufactures various parts for motor vehicles; electronics, fuel systems, tyres etc from its various factories. Meinhardt has supported Continental in the construction of the facilities for Tyre Manufacturing in Thailand, Automotive electronics in Malaysia and Fuel Exhaust Systems parts factory in India.

72 | APAC Outlook issue 47

allowed each of them to expand and diversify their work either collectively or individually.

Working in various regions gave Mr Natali an insight into socioeconomic and developmental progression of many countries’ urban centres, and consequently his own industry.

“Now it has come to a point at which the Asian economies are doing a lot better,” he adds. “There are a few that are still playing catch up, but the talent pool that is available to these industries in humongous, not only South Asia, but also the East and South East Asia, and the rest of region.”

From witnessing the economic rise of regions, he has seen how globalisation has pushed on the development of building engineering. It has been (and continues to be) this surge in interconnectivity and rising talent that drives the leap forward of upcoming generations.

“In the industry, where things are moving towards more automation, more digitisation, more data, you’re dealing with an different skilled workforce that is hungry for experience and knowledge, and that will keep driving the development forwards.”

According to Mr Natali, engineering has evolved from a technical profession involving many layers of planning and assessment to a practice that requires technical and management skills and with the requirement for smarter, sustainable, digital based solutions etc, engineering is constantly going to evolve and advance by refining its processes.

When Mr Natali looks back on his 28 year career and then towards the future of engineering, he realises how far the industry and Consulting practises have come – how the sector has developed from a pure technical profession to a widespread practise requiring much more than just technical expertise, and that the future will be radically different to even that of 20 years ago.

The engineering industry has rapidly evolved through the past

CONSTRUCTION

CRESCON PROJECTS & SERVICES PVT LTD

cresconproj@gmail.com

cresconprojects.com

Crescon Projects is an Engineering Construction Company established in the year 2011, specialising in Industrial MEP works, Mechanical, Electrical, HVAC Utility, Process & Firefighting works, Civil & PEB works.

The company is dedicated to hardcore Commitment to Client, Quality, Health, Safety & Environmental policies that will always ensure that its products and services fully meet the requirements of the customers.

The new EVO™ 600 and EVO™ 6000 represent the next step in the evolution of Automatic Tank Gauges (ATGs) with features like inventory control, leak detection, TPI, and more.

Learn more at

franklinfueling.com/evo-series

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 73

MEINHARDT EPCM

PT.Smart Modular Building Indonesia PT. Smart-Modular Building Indonesia was established in 2014, has ISO 90012015 standards, consisting of architects with more than 15 years of experience specialising in Design-EngineeringApplication, Value Engineering, as well as special fabricator of sandwich panel related material, accessories and building components. We also provide services ranging from design consultation and conformation for architectural sandwich panel features, as well as fabrication, delivery and field installation.

We are a part of PT. Alsun Suksesindo, which is a specialist holding company that produces various Metal Products that have been marketed for the World Construction market since 1976.

Our market playgrounds are the Infrastructure Sector, Commercial Buildings, Hospitals, Food and Drug Industry Buildings, and Automotive, as well as Pre-fabricated Buildings in remote areas of the Oil and Gas / Mining / Power Plant Sector.

two-and-a-half decades. Where the 1990s saw the rise of globalisation and the rise of technology in mass use, the following years saw a radically altered professional environment spearheaded by digital connectivity.

“I started my career in 1992, and at that time the focus was on going global and local cost centres, and globalisation was on everyone’s mind as well as looking for lower cost opportunities,” Mr Natali says.

“We were going through an era of change at that time where, if you looked at the industrial sector, we were going towards conversion of manual operations to early generation automation. The 90s was ramping through this automation resulting in our firm doing a lot of work in those areas, which was considered a skill for that time.”

Since the global use of digital communication and services, the engineering industry has evolved and adapted to make such services simpler 74 | APAC Outlook issue 47

and easier. The days of blueprints and hand drawn-up plans have made way for CAD (computer-aided design) and now we are heading towards greater use and adoption of BIM. These changes are paving the path for a new generation engineer equipped with new skills to design and execute with greater optimisation to meet the new challenges that industry faces.

And even as it comes to the building of new projects knowledge of modernised and efficient methods of construction are needed as to assure an optimal outcome for any project.

Because of this, Mr Natali believes that the skills needed in the future for engineering will change.

“Nowadays we have become Data savvy and we are surrounded by it” he says. “This is not exactly a threat for the engineering industry, but more an opportunity. For example, if you look at projects in various sectors being built today, it is highly likely that similar design or construction has been done

already somewhere. So, the future is going to be: using the existing knowledge and data available, how do we optimise the new builds by using the learnings and knowledge to bring in efficiencies in speed to market, cost’s and wastage” Although this could be perceived as something akin to the gradual stagnation of a profession, Mr Natali believes that it is simply the evolution of the engineering profession, not the decline of them. Engineers will go on to act in a growing the various sectors with new skills to meet the aspirations of the clients driven by the needs of the industry.

“The way I see it, we are at a juncture of a major transition, and this is just the beginning. From here, just as the IT and Technology sectors grew over the last 25 years, in 25 years’ time we will be living in a very different world.”

Indeed, Meinhardt EPCM prides itself on many attributes, and this adaptation to change is one of them.

CONSTRUCTION

PT. Smart-modular Building Indonesia

Specialist Architectural Sandwich Panel Company. We design and produce remarkable projects.

Infrastructure

Pedestrian Bridge, Polda Metro Jaya.

Oil & Gas

Facade

Health Infrastructure

Shell Gas Station Payment Booth

AEON Mall, BSD Serpong.

Light Rail Train Stations

Glass House

Modular Box Building

COVID-19 Hospital UGM, Jogjakarta.

Envelope Building, Shop House, Sentul.

EPC Company Office, Bekasi.

www.ptsbi.com | salesgroup@ptsbi.co.id |+62 21-8262-4232 / +62 822-1379-0410 | Jl Raya Narogong RT01/RW06 KM 12,5 Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, Jawa Barat - Indonesia.

Viatech SDN BHD Service is our line

• Incorporated Since 1985 • New Build (NTI) • Renovation and Upgrading Works • Underground Storage Tank Service and Installation (USTS) • Turnkey Construction Management viatech.com.my | +60361778413 | +60361779790 vsbclifftan@gmail.com | mary.viatech@gmail.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 75

MEINHARDT EPCM

VISION, MISSION, VALUES With more than 65 years of engineering experience, Meinhardt has embraced innovation and digital transformation to provide clients with sustainable solutions, working towards a vision and mission for a better world.

VISION: To be the world’s preferred urban and infrastructure solutions provider MISSION: To deliver commercially successful, highly buildable, sustainable solutions exceeding clients’ expectations VALUES: Accountability, collaboration, diversity, entrepreneurship, integrity, innovation, ownership, respect, sustainability

76 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Moving forward through the digital/ technology age, the firm remains focused on being ahead of the game and above the industry competition.

“One of the biggest differentiators as an employer, or a company to work with, is the variety of projects in various sectors, the flexibility and agility to provide the baseline for entrepreneurial flare and working alongside Industry experts and the ease of doing business than some of our competitors,” Mr Natali says.

“Our management structure is quite flat, which means that you don’t have to go through several layers of unnecessary approval to move matters forward with greater agility.”

Working in the engineering and construction industry relies heavily on the communication to and relationships with external companies, groups, and individuals. It is through these kinds of partnerships that businesses can work to mutually beneficial outcomes and push projects forward seamlessly. For

Mr Natali, these partnerships are what makes Meinhardt function.

“This is extremely important for a business like ours,” he continues. “If you are working on multiple projects like we are, one of the challenging issues you might have is something going wrong in the supply chain. If you don’t have the right supply chain partners, that poses a major risk for you.

“Fortunately for Meinhardt EPCM, we rely on a resolute and reliable network of partners who work with us “hand-in-glove” to deliver on a for us and our clients.”

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES But every industry has its obstacles.

Since the outbreak of this year’s coronavirus pandemic, almost every sector has been negatively affected.

COVID-19 has brought many plans and projects to a halt as the globe adapts to the new restrictions concerning workplace functionality and behaviour. For the engineering industry, the

CONSTRUCTION

A construction and facility maintenance company

We have over 15 years of experience in doing relentless effort of providing outstanding working solution in every project.

Solution Works!

DGR Lighting offer a complete professional lighting services to our clients. We have: • Team of consultation in Lighting Planning, Design and Applications.

• Team of Technical support, Product Development, and Sales & Services.

PT. Cira International Rawasari Mas B-02 Jl. Percetakan Negara C-36 Jakarta Pusat.

Indonesia - 10570 Tel. +6221 42873766 | info@cira-international.com

“WE ARE LOOKING TO EXPAND INTO LATIN AMERICA AND OCEANIA, WHICH WILL TAKE PRIORITY AFTER MAINTAINING OUR SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS” communication and liaison between businesses and clientele has been disrupted as a result of widespread rearrangement of company organisation on both ends.

“COVID-19 has slowed our progress, but the company goals remain all the same, and the most important one is that we remain resilient in our efforts and projects – that is the front and foremost objective,” Mr Natali says.

The progress of building plans and projects has also been impacted by the requirement of many client companies to reduce spending. Firms such as those in the aviation industry have suffered catastrophic losses and have resorted to redundancies as a result of very limited commercial activity. Those clients who have been

LIGHTING TOTAL SOLUTIONS

affected by COVID-19 in this manner are, understandably, hesitant to commit to large capital expenses on large construction projects.

As for the future, Meinhardt is always “looking to the next horizon” in the words of Mr Natali. Each decade since 1965 has represented the start of one horizon after the end of a previous era.

By 2025, the firm is looking to develop itself in many ways.

On top of becoming increasingly sustainable, the company’s plans centre around expansion, technological advancement, and the refining and development of the services it provides.

“We are looking to expand into Latin America and Oceania, which will take priority after maintaining our

Tel +6011- 1533 2886 | Fax +603-8051 3783 Email admin@dgr.com.my | garick.lim@dgr.com.my www.dgr.com.my

sustainability commitments,” Mr Natali continues. “Next in line is the increased transition into digitisation within engineering sphere, exploring further into the renewable energy sectors – biogas, wind and solar, energy options that are alternatives for the future, and the supporting infrastructure that joins those.”

Meinhardt EPCM is also looking to shift its construction provision into a full turnkey service that will bring a smoother and higher paced endto-end transition. Lastly, adoption of technology and new skills in engineering is key to the future of the industry.

Here, the firm aims to use technology in all delivery models as it adapts and evolves in the new technological era.

MEINHARDT EPCM Tel: +65 6273 5255 groupcommunications@meinhardtgroup.com www.meinhardtgroup.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 77

DATAMINE

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MINING

Stone and Software As the digital mining sphere grows, Dylan Webb discusses the success of Datamine and the newest technological innovations utilised in the regional mining industry Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

W

hen we hear the word mining we don’t always consider the digital realm that underpins the mining process.

We may instead think of a gruff man hacking away at the inner wall of his cave, revealing fist-sized gems and gold. Or we envision the more modern-day scene of enormous trucks trundling down vast networks of descending roads that wind their way through hills to a central mining facility.

However, the present day sees digital tools and advanced technology utilised in every area of every sector, and mining is no different.

From inventory tracking software and communications to logistics and automated machinery, the

Dylan Webb, CEO sphere is being defined by digital modernisation.

Indeed, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has found that over the next five years, more than 77 percent of jobs in the country’s mining sector will be remodelled by

technological innovations, increasing productivity by up to 23 percent.

And this is where Datamine comes in. With its founding stretching back to 1981, the firm has supplied the mining industry with technological solutions for almost 40 years, providing its clients with the ways to bring the most innovative digital software to the field (or rather, the mine).

With its headquarters based in Brisbane, Australia, Datamine is a world leading provider of mining technology and digital services. It specialises in the seamless planning and management operations of client mining companies, and provides services spanning the entire spectrum.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 79

DATAMINE The company’s pride lays in its breadth of service, not only chronologically, but also in diversity.

It is a global firm that provides professional service, expert industry knowledge, and covers every aspect of the mining chain technologically, from the smallest to the largest – a feat that few other businesses can claim.

DATAMINE SERVICES Datamine provides mining solutions to over 6,000 companies worldwide. These services include: • Exploration • Resources and reserves • Mine planning • Mine production • Processing • Logistics • Sales and commodity trading • Consulting and training The company ensures industryleading support to leverage the full value from its customers’ technological investment.

GLOBAL DIGITISATION Unlike most other companies (and industries for that matter), 2020 has provided Datamine with increased opportunities.

The global coronavirus pandemic has seen the decline of business growth in many sectors, and has completely altered or enhanced the world view on topics such as the nature of the workplace, commuting, sustainability, communication, and digitisation.

COVID-19 has ushered in a new age as to the way business is practiced, and has resulted in the acceleration of digital adoption this year. Through the months of pandemic-related restrictions, there has been a substantial boost to digitally related purchases and services.

According to Statista, 2018 saw the number of internet users rise to 3.92 billion, and this increased to 4.13 billion the following year. Mobile broadband alone saw around 5.3 billion global subscriptions in 2018, which then rose to almost 6.4 billion in 2019. The world, it is clear, was already on a steep upward connectivity curve well before the pandemic arrived.

For Datamine, the pandemic’s resulting effects on the technology and mining industries have brought a wealth of opportunity. As a techservice business it has seen greater

iRing Our companies major goal is to eliminate the need for a primary crusher and reduce the energy required in the secondary crushing and grinding processes in both mines and quarries globally.

We will accomplish this task by transforming the blasting operations into the primary crusher. Our software, Aegis, will allow engineers to design blasts accounting for the physical properties of the rock and explosive producing consistent, reliable fragmentation results for every blast.

Achieving consistent fragmentation in the desired range will reduce downstream crushing and grinding efforts.

We believe we can reduce the overall energy consumed by the crushing and grinding processes by 25% to 50%, but we may also introduce a solid breakthrough innovation to the mining sector by eliminating the need to install primary crushers in underground mining operations.

These changes result in a substantial decrease in expenses ($12.8 to $25.6 billion reduction in energy and carbon taxes) and in a significant decrease in greenhouse gases in the range of 46 to 92 Megatonnes of CO2e (the equivalent of removing 10 to 20 million autos from the roads).

Our software benefits: Productivity – more throughput • Removing the underground crusher removes a bottleneck • No need to purchase, install and maintain an underground crusher • Possibility to bypass initial grinding circuit • Efficiency in designing and executing blasting plans Efficiency – using the explosives to crush • Much less downstream energy consumed • Less costly to maintain • Process already exists Environmental • Reduced carbon footprint • Reduced airborne particulates

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STUDIO MAPPER Designed for both touch and desktop devices, Studio Mapper makes geological face mapping a simpler and more efficient process, meaning lithology types and rock characteristics are able to be accurately recorded to suit your own operation.

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• Digital replacement for paper mapping • Designed for use at the face • Save time and eliminate data transcription errors • Seamlessly update ore body models Enquire about Studio Mapper via our website: www.dataminesoftware.com

been accelerated somewhat by the outbreak of coronavirus.

PATH FROM THE PAST

activity from its clients who are vying for its services.

“A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an acceleration of technology adoption and acceptance of modern working practices,” adds Dylan Webb, CEO of Datamine.

Webb goes on to explain how the industry’s past (even the recent past) revolved around physical travel and visiting clients (often in remote locations), with Datamine personnel having to remain on-site in order to deliver services. This outdated business practice is making way for online communication and organisation in line with the rise of digital connectivity, a shift which has 82 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Webb has been with Datamine for 10 years, but knew the company as far back as the 1990s when he was an end user of its mine planning solutions.

“We are lucky to have several team members that have been with the company since the early 80s, and their depth of technical knowledge combined with a new generation of energetic and innovative professionals makes Datamine a fun and rewarding place to work,” he tells us.

Webb has remained within the mining industry throughout his career.

A mining engineer by background, he started in mining operations management before he became a consultant, having been driven by an interest in business improvement and strategy.

“That experience led me to understand that technology was an essential requirement to embed

WipWare Inc. For over 25 years WipWare has led the charge in fragmentation analysis in the mining industry, providing solutions to gather material size, shape, volume and colour data from every part of the process.

Riding the cutting edge of technology, WipWare has turned everyday tech like cameras, smartphones, and drones into powerful data collection and analysis tools, so you can quantify key performance indicators and continuously improve your process -Because you can’t manage what you can’t measure!

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MINING

The Big Picture of How Your Mine is Performing Across the Supply Chain Metal loss linked to poor mine reconciliation is an industry wide problem in the resources sector. Reconcilor empowers its users to take the next step by automatically consolidating and validating your data, as well as offering spreadsheet free analysis. This allows you to make informed decisions and leaves more time for implementing improvements. Take the hard work out of your reconciliation and start reaping the benefits.

How can Reconcilor help you mine with confidence?

• Identify key sources of variation in an operation • Automate reports which previously took days of manual effort • Improve data accuracy for more confident decision-making • Providing a “single source of the truth” KEY FEATURES • Configurable Continuum • Flexible trends analysis • Spatial analysis • Mining analysis

• Stockpile management • Material movement • Model comparisons • Crusher feed analysis

“Reconcilor is a powerful package. Most mines don’t realise they are throwing Gold away due to lack of control. Reconcilor offers this control.” – Beau Nicholls, Director, Sahara Reconcilor offers your operation the transparency it needs to track metal movement from start to finish and to mine with confidence.

Contact us today to enquire – visit https://snowdengroup.com/ reconcilor-software/ or email snowden@snowdengroup.com

Remote management made easy ✓ Monitor fragmentation ✓ Identify data trends ✓ Trigger logic alarms ✓ Automate responses ✓ Continuously improve ✓ Optimize from pit to plant www.w ipwa re . c o m

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 83

DATAMINE

“Solving technical challenges in mining can require rare and specialised skills that are not easily accessible”

efficiency improvements,” he continues. “It is common to see initial improvements that rely on active management fade away with changes in focus or personnel.

“Technology addresses this challenge through automation and systematic application of a new process.”

As for the Australian mining sector on the whole, Webb goes on to explain how Datamine is fortunate in comparison to other companies operating in different sectors. Australian mining players have been largely risk-adverse in the past 10 to 15 years, reluctant to invest in advancing their technologies.

But this has recently changed.

“Recently there has been a palpable change in attitude, and it is great to see the industry start to appreciate the potential benefits of digitally enabled mines,” Webb adds.

And the reason many clients choose to collaborate with Datamine is clear.

The ever increasing volume of data gives rise to the use of technology to consolidate, clean, and analyse growing amounts of data flows, turning them into the information required for decision makers to act on.

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“Increasingly, mining companies are delivering value by working more effectively across traditional silos such as mining and processing, and technology provides transparency and analytical capability across the full mining value chain,” Webb explains.

Datamine stands out to clients as the primary option in this regard. The firm’s solutions span the entire mining value chain, and its customers are able to access local time zone, local language professionals, and company support in any region around the world.

“No other vendor can deliver such a breadth or depth of solutions. From managing borehole logs and assays, right through to automatically generating an invoice as concentrate is loaded onto a ship, as well as everything in between,” Webb continues.

TALKING PARTNERSHIPS Dylan Webb explains how supplier relationships pave the way for success in Datamine’s ventures.

“Solving technical challenges in mining can require rare and specialised skills that are not easily accessible. Partner and supplier relationships are an important area for Datamine, as we source solutions from partners that fill specialist areas in our broader product portfolio.

“By working collaboratively with research organisations and specialist partners, Datamine delivers customers access to comprehensive solutions supported locally by a single vendor, and our partners gain access to global distribution and existing customer relationships.

“By working with Datamine, our partners can focus their investment on research and development, avoiding the need to divert energy and financial resources into establishing global offices and support infrastructure.

“Cloud services are also becoming increasingly important, with customers seeking hosted and/or managed services, leveraging cloud-enabled solutions to increase processing capacity and provide centralised reporting capability. Datamine works closely with its customers and major cloud vendors such as Microsoft and AWS to take advantage of the everincreasing range of cloud services available.”

MINING PIONEERING THE FUTURE OF MINING The company’s projects back up Webb’s claim, and demonstrate the firm’s professionalism and innovative achievements.

Recently, Datamine has been taking advantage of the changes in the digital and computing realm by reimagining its products with a focus on mobility and cloud technology.

“Discover Mobile is a recent success story where a new application has been developed for iOS and Android that allows exploration geologists to take subsets of GIS (geographic information system) data with them into the field,” Webb says.

“The user can be guided through a planned field trip by GPS, and they can record measurements and observations directly via the mobile interface during the day. When they return to the office, the new information is automatically synchronised into the master system and available for further analysis in the office using the full Discover application.”

Within the first 12 months of Discover Mobile’s launch, it has attracted over 1,000 active monthly users, with an additional 50 users joining with each month that passes.

And into 2021, Webb assures us that the app will be extended to work with ArcGIS Pro (released to the market back in early 2020).

This will enable Discover to integrate customer mining and exploration data into the ArcGIS Pro environment, to provide seamless visualisation, compiling, analysing, mapping, and sharing of 2D and 3D spatial geoscience data.

And there are plans at work for the coming year. On top of Datamine’s 24/7 service to many customers, 2021 will see the expansion of this availability to support a broader customer base – an industry first for software providers.

“In 2021, Datamine will also launch its new commodity trading solution,

MineMarket CTRM,” Webb reveals.

“After a year collaborating with one of the world’s largest commodity traders in Switzerland, Datamine has extended the functionality of its leading inventory management and contract software to handle the complex needs of concentrate trading.

“This exciting new capability provides mining companies, that include trading in their business model, to track material, sell output under contract, and execute trades from a variety of sources all on a single platform.”

And for Webb, the future looks bright and busy. Datamine has taken the opportunity provided by a growing digital sphere and has aided the transfer of old-to-new methods within the mining industry – activity which leaves the CEO optimistic about what lies ahead.

“Marking 40 years in business is a great milestone, and we can see many examples in the group where the growth of the business has provided opportunities for staff and allowed us to meet the needs of customers as

they have also expanded operations around the world,” Webb concludes.

“As we look to the future, it is exciting to see the ongoing opportunity to develop and grow the business through a combination of a startup mentality to innovate, a financially strong parent company that invests in growth, and a collaborative and friendly culture to facilitate good relationships across our business and with our customers.

“The digital mine will be built with a series of connected solutions, not a single platform. With an open stance to interoperability and a wide range of mining technology, Datamine is well placed to support the digitalisation of the global mining industry.”

DATAMINE Tel: +61 7 3248 0000 marketing@dataminesoftware.com www.dataminesoftware.com

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FV HOSPITAL

HEALTHCARE

Combatting COVID

for Vietnam FV Hospital has been on the frontline of Vietnam’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the organisation is adapting to a new normal and continuing to provide leading medical services to its patients Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Callam Waller

T

here will be many people, organisations and societies at large reflecting on the past 12 months with the age-old saying in mind – what a difference a year makes.

Back in November 2019, JeanMarcel Guillon was looking ahead to the next chapter in a comprehensive seven-year plan for FV Hospital, a leading private medical institution in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City which he set up and launched in 2003.

The Frenchman, who practiced as a pulmonologist and senior consultant, jumped many hurdles on his way to establishing his own Vietnamese hospital – from struggles to raise financial capital to a chance meeting with an architect in a St Germain bar, the journey has been a fascinating one to this point.

Enter COVID-19. When the virus

outbreak in Wuhan Province was confirmed by Chinese authorities in January 2020, few could have imagined the health and socioeconomic fallout that would follow in the months since.

An unknown entity and unprecedented scenario for many countries around the world, the response and action taken by governing authorities has been tremendously varied. Fortunately for Vietnam, action so far has been decisive and effective.

“When we heard about China in January we did not panic,” Guillon says. “The experience with SARS in 2003 may have helped in this respect, in that the country has dealt with similar situations in the past.

“Vietnam was quick to close its borders and took quarantine measures extremely seriously, adopting a tracking and tracing system that was hugely successful. At one point, there were 80,000 people contained within quarantine centres around the country, a huge logistical feat which has helped to contain the virus.

“They don’t beat around the bush here – if one person tests positive, then everyone who has been around them will be placed into isolation to the point where you can’t go and walk your dog.”

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 87

FV HOSPITAL The plan worked, and Vietnam recorded zero cases for several months until the end of July, when illegal Chinese immigrants heading to Cambodia brought COVID-19 back into the country via the city of Da Nang, a huge hub of domestic tourism.

While another outbreak ensued, the situation has, once more, been brought under control and at the time of writing just 35 deaths have been recorded.

For Guillon personally, the middle part of this year was unintentionally spent in France.

“I went on a skiing holiday with my family to Switzerland with the

FV HOSPITAL KEY SERVICES

intention of coming back to Vietnam after a week, but ended up returning seven months later,” he says.

“Fortunately I was able to live in my home in the south of France for this time and work remotely, but the trip didn’t exactly go to plan, and I have no idea when will be a good time to head back to Europe again.”

For FV Hospital, the initial lockdown period, albeit relatively short, hit numbers hard.

A reluctance to visit hospital through fear of catching the COVID19 virus resulted in sharp declines in patient visits, a trend which inevitably led to a fall in income.

paediatrics and neonatology, internal medicine, dermatology, skin and laser treatment, cancer treatment and clinical psychology.

SURGICAL SPECIALITIES: Includes general and thoracic surgery, vascular surgery and phlebology, bone and joint care, urology and andrology, obstetrics and gynaecology, dental surgery, ophthalmology and refractive surgery.

Jean-Marcel Guillon, CEO Based in Ho Chi Minh City, FV Hospital houses an enormous array of expertise and services covering the likes of cardiology, ophthalmology and refractive surgery, and general and thoracic surgery, among many others.

Its specialities and services can be broken down into four key areas: MEDICAL SPECIALITIES: Includes accident and emergency, general practice and family medicine,

88 | APAC Outlook issue 47

SUPPORT SERVICES: Includes imaging, nuclear medicine, laboratory and blood bank services, and rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, osteopathy and speech therapy.

COVID-19 SUPPORT: Covers screening and testing for COVID-19 patients.

Elekta ProKnow Advancing Remote Workflow, Centralize Knowledge and Harness the Power of Big data ProKnow also opens new doors to discovery, research, and continual improvement. In addition to refining your current capabilities and workflow, ProKnow allows you to store and retrieve critical radiation oncology data – across all modalities, over time, and through the growth of your organization Solving today’s workflow problems.

First of all, ProKnow is your plugand-play archive and restore tool for radiation oncology and imaging data. But that’s barely the tip of the iceberg! ProKnow also solves some of your biggest day-to-day workflow challenges by offering remote and onsite team contouring and peer review.

Integrating tomorrow’s tools for realtime data mining.

You link groups of patients into customized cohorts, and study their collective results with “big data” population tools such as metric histograms, correlation finder, and Population DVH. Start adding your own custom metrics for treatment factors outside of radiation (e.g., drug regimen) and patient outcomes to build your own engine for clinical trials and outcomes analysis.

Building consistency and sharing knowledge.

ProKnow is an ever-present vessel for educating. For instance, create a learning objective requiring your colleagues to view your patient contours, or allow them to collaborate with their peers to review your work. You can even publish and share specific metrics of interest to ensure consistency and accuracy for protocols and plan review.

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FV HOSPITAL Guillon had no choice but to adopt a policy of damage limitation, deploying a series of cost-saving measures which have enabled the hospital to continue operating with its head above water during what have been particularly challenging times.

For this, the CEO is tremendously grateful to his family of staff.

“It hasn’t been easy,” he says. “We’ve had to cut back hours, move some people to work from home where they can, and halted most projects which we were planning before COVID arrived.

“But the response of the team has been admirable – they have been on board from the start and accepted our decisions, often working unpaid overtime and going above and beyond to ensure the future viability of FV Hospital, a sign that we truly are a big family here.

“I could not be prouder of them.

Around 50 percent of our people have been with us for five years or more, and 150 or so have been a part of our journey since the very beginning.”

ON THE COVID FRONTLINE The team at FV has been influential in Vietnam’s fight against the virus.

Guillon made the decision to move the hospital to the frontline, applying for a testing license from the Ministry of Health and creating a dedicated wing for COVID screening and treatment, all carried out to the same exacting standards that have helped to build FV’s reputation over the past 17 years.

In July, the second outbreak triggered a shift in approach towards mass testing, with FV Hospital providing tests on-site and at people’s homes, the CEO also detailing how it has set up a drive through system which can be deployed as and when the need arises.

All of this required a smooth functioning supply chain, especially in the provision of personal protective equipment and other vital supplies needed to operate at the forefront of the COVID-19 response.

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HEALTHCARE

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CONTRIBUTING TO THE COMMUNITY

to care for themselves, show off their beauty, and learn how style is a great way for them to build their confidence. The event attracted thousands of customers including patients and their relatives, as well as doctors and staff of FV Hospital.

Despite the disruptive influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, FV Hospital continues to play its part in the wider community through numerous activities.

Recent examples include: PHUC TIN FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT: To promote physical exercise and team building, FV Hospital entered its own football team in the tournament with 20 players, including doctors, nurses and FV staff. FV’s football club is a part of the I Love FV Programme, which aims to create clubs for staff to enjoy activities they love with FV colleagues and help increase team

spirit and team building within the hospital. In addition to FV’s football club, the I Love FV Programme also holds activities which focus on cooking, dance, yoga, qigong, among others, which are all very popular with FV staff.

VIETNAMESE WOMEN’S DAY: In October, in celebration of Vietnamese Women’s Day, FV held a Beauty and Fashion Week to help women learn better techniques

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 91

FV HOSPITAL

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HEALTHCARE

“Unlike in my home country France, Vietnam makes virtually everything, so we had a reliable and plentiful supply of everything needed such as face masks and surgical gowns,” Guillon says. “I must admit I was a little anxious at the beginning, but our suppliers across the whole chain have been tremendous during this year.”

Such has been the success of FV’s contribution to date, COVID testing and treatment has become a key stream of revenue for the organisation, generating around five percent of turnover through August and September.

And despite the volume of testing dropping, the hospital continues to provide these services, in particular to organisations such as schools and offshore oil firms who require their staff to test negative before entering their working environment.

“Although this has been an important revenue generator recently, we knew that our regular patients would come back, and the fact they have returned in bigger numbers is testament to how much people trust FV Hospital to treat them,” Guillon continues. “Recently we broke our record for the number of outpatients in a single day”.

“I would say we are somewhere near back to normal. We are hitting around 90 percent of our budget goals, and this is despite a complete collapse in medical tourism due to travel restrictions and border closures.

“What we have found is that more Vietnamese nationals, who may otherwise have travelled to places like Singapore, are now being treated here because they also cannot move between countries, for example patients having a diagnosis of cancer discovered that we have a cancer centre on par with those of Singapore and Bangkok and are now treated at FV.”

the organisation’s renovation projects are now being put into the pipeline, the CEO is optimistic that 2021 will be a year of significantly less disruption than what this year has delivered to date, although his own travel plans may have to remain on hold.

“I do fear not being able to travel back home to Europe next year,” he says, bringing the conversation to a close.

“However, I am optimistic about the situation here in Vietnam. The government will not open up borders until it is completely safe to do so, so we will be operating in a bit of a bubble for some time – but given around 95 percent of our business comes from Vietnam nationals, we should not be too adversely impacted.

“It has been a whirlwind year, but I am excited to see what the future holds.”

BEYOND CORONAVIRUS? For instance, FV Hospital’s state-ofthe-art cancer centre is busier now than it ever has been since opening in 2018, a fact which suggests that normal service is being resumed and expanded.

Guillon also reveals that some of

FV HOSPITAL Tel: (028) 54 11 33 33 information@fvhospital.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 93

THAI OPTICAL GROUP (TOG)

Clear Vision CaringCulture Thai Optical Group combines a welcoming corporate culture with cutting-edge technology and a drive towards digitisation Writer: Dani Redd | Project Manager: Callam Waller

T

he inventor of the first pair of spectacles is unknown, but the first wearable glasses seem to have originated in Italy during the 13th century. These spectacles were made with primitive, glass-blown lenses and set into crude wooden or leather frames. Initially used by monks, they gradually spread across Europe’s wealthy elites.

Fast forward to Thailand, 1945, when glasses were reinvented.

“During that time, because of the war, it was pretty difficult to import goods from other countries. And Thailand had people who needed glasses. So my father and uncle got the idea that we can use the bottom of a thick glass bottle and make a lens out of it. There were some war planes that got shot down and they modified the plastic from the windows to make frames. From there, they started a business,” explains Torn Pracharktam.

Once the war ended and importing goods became possible, the process

94 | APAC Outlook issue 47

quickly became more sophisticated.

That business is the now the Thai Optical Group (TOG), and Pracharktam is the CEO.

WORKING TOGETHER In its current incarnation, TOG manufactures and distributes ophthalmic mineral lenses, Rx lenses, plastic lenses and photochromatic lenses, which it sells to shops in Thailand and across the world.

“We offer high quality optical lenses made of plastic and engineered through different processes, resulting in different characteristics,” explains Pracharktam.

“We start from the liquid polymer mode and solidify them into lenses.

When we get the lenses we have two options; one is a finished lens which has a certain prescription, which we can sell to our customers, whereas the second is where we shape the back to create a prescription tailored to the individual.”

HEALTHCARE

THAI OPTICAL GROUP (TOG) The CEO believes it is this capability with chemistry that enables the company to stand out from competitors. It can convert many difficult formulae into optical lenses, resulting in unique characteristics, such as impact resistance.

SUSTAINABILITY IN FOCUS THAI OPTICAL GROUP wants to make its operations as sustainable as possible.

However, its lenses are made with thermosetting plastic, which doesn’t decompose.

“ANYTHING compostable doesn’t provide good optical quality. In this industry, if we can’t help the world by creating products that decompose, we can at least use them at the beginning instead,” Pracharktam explains.

FOR the past four years, the company has been working on a sustainability project with Mitsui Chemical, using a polymer with a bio-based component derived from palm oil. This enables it to reduce its carbon footprint.

TOG also concentrates on using its resources efficiently to mitigate environmental impact. It has been awarded ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management System and been certified Green Industry Level 3 (Green System). It was the first company in Thailand to study greenhouse gas emissions from plastic lens products, and registered for the carbon footprint certificate for Excelite 1.50 plastic lenses with Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management in 2015.

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But above all, he believes that TOG’s hospitable attitude is what stands it apart.

“The second thing is that our company is enriched by the Thai culture – we are friends with everyone,” he laughs. “This industry is governed by a couple of very large conglomerates, meaning there is not much freedom to choose products.

“We are the so-called alternative to these companies; we have service engrained into our culture and trying to help everyone. This is our uniqueness – anyone can come and work with us as a partner. We have the technology and capability to perform services for them.”

For example, TOG does a lot of work with startups. They often come to the table with an idea, and are looking for someone to produce a sample for them, alongside expert technical knowledge and advice, both of which TOG is happy to provide.

“Many large companies refuse to work with startups but we are small enough that we listen to everyone that comes to us with an idea, and then we help them make their sample,” Pracharktam says.

“Right now in the industry there is a lot of work on virtual reality. If you look on the news you see Facebook and Apple and it’s all about virtual eyeglasses – even Google just bought North, which provides smart glasses.”

These glasses provide information in a hands-free format for users.

Google Glass contains features such as an in-built camera, an LED display and voice-activation commands. The application has been used, among other things, for medical procedures – Dr Christopher Kaeding used it to converse with a colleague during a complex operation, which students were able to watch on their laptops.

But much of the work going on around smart glasses is very much in the experimental stage.

Eyeglass lens technologies that enhance and protect vision.

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Strong

THAI OPTICAL GROUP (TOG)

Mitsui Chemicals MR™ by Mitsui Chemicals The de facto standard for high refractive index lens materials Eyeglasses need to provide numerous characteristics, among them clarity, safety, durability, and refractive index.

The industry has long sought an innovative material that offers these properties in a balanced way.

MR™ lens materials are made from thiourethane resin, which had not been used for lenses. Thiourethane realises lens properties not available from other materials and, consequently, MR™ is recognised and adopted by eyeglass makers around the world.

With a wide range of refractive index of 1.60, 1.67, and 1.74, eyeglass wearers can select the optimal MR™ material for their individual needs.

Khun Torn Prachaktam, Group CEO “We were talking to some company – who are already bankrupt – with a crazy idea of glasses with a camera or infrared detector which captures an image of the person you’re talking to and sends it to a database to assess whether or not they are a criminal,” the CEO says, with some amusement.

Jokes aside, TOG does take approaches from startups seriously, and uses its manufacturing and technology expertise to ascertain whether or not these ideas can become a reality.

The company has also forged close relationships with its partners and suppliers, which the CEO believes are crucial in this line of work.

“For example, our chemical manufacturer PPG don’t know how to convert to the final products. They have to turn to someone to really understand the drawbacks and disadvantages of certain formulae,” he explains.

TOG works closely with each partner, supplier and customer on an individual places, so it can understand their specific needs and 98 | APAC Outlook issue 47

wants. To do so ensures minimum errors and maximum efficiency, and Pracharktam believes that maintaining transparency throughout the process is of paramount importance.

“We are open to our customers to the level of every detail they need to know to improve their business or efficiency,” he says.

DIGITISATION AND PROGRESSION Good relationships in business have never been more important than they were this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only destroyed lives but disrupted supply chains.

During Thailand’s lockdown, the company was able to stay operational, albeit in a limited capacity. This is because it has its own dormitory – operators could therefore quarantine, working in the factory and sleeping in the dormitory, having no contact with outsiders. Vendors provided food and TOG ensured effective safety measures in the factory, such as body temperature checks before entering the building and an isolation unit.

Quality of View (QOV) for all To maintain clear vision, visual acuity, and eye health throughout our lives, we need to take proper care of our eyes and vision, taking our stage of life into account.

With our innovative eyeglass lens materials and technologies, Mitsui Chemicals seeks to provide optimal quality of view (QOV*) for anyone who wears glasses.

Mitsui Chemicals and TOG have had a long and trusting relationship, and have shared the values of improving QOV through high value added products. Mitsui Chemicals and TOG strive for improving QOV through close collaboration – contribute to vision correction, eye health and comfort. *QOV (Quality of View) is a measure of quality and satisfaction in all areas related to eyes and eyesight in our lives.

https://jp.mitsuichemicals.com/ en/special/mr/

MR™ is the brand that supports the global lens brands.

Ophthalmic lenses are sold under lens manufacturer brands.

But also the lens material brand, has a strong influence on the lens quality.

As a market leader in the process of revolutionizing eyewear products, starting with the manufacture of lens materials, Mitsui Chemicals leads the global eyewear market through the development of various superior lens materials and innovative technologies, including MR™, the de facto standard in high refractive index lens materials.

MR is trademarks/registered trademarks of Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

https://jp.mitsuichemicals.com/en/special/mr/

THAI OPTICAL GROUP (TOG)

While some workers elected to return home to their families, many decided to stay at the factory.

“We built a small community,” Pracharktam says. “Production stayed open, and the operators were happy because it meant they were able to continue making money. We also had to make sure we weren’t just producing if there were no buyers, so we had to work very closely with our customers to work out exactly what they needed and thereby optimise our resources.”

TOG also helped out the community around the factory. As a chemicalbased company it was able to start making hand gel, which it gave to its workers and the local community, including the nearby nursing home. It 100 | APAC Outlook issue 47

“WE SHARE TECHNOLOGY WITH OUR SUPPLIERS BUT IT’S NOT A MODEL WHERE SUPPLIERS COME WITH FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND THEIR OWN ENGINEERS – WE HAVE GOOD PEOPLE HERE, AND WE ARE PROUD OF OPERATING THIS WAY” also talked to local community leaders to see if there was anyone who needed anything provided to survive the pandemic.

With new daily cases now in the single digits in Thailand, TOG has set its sights on recovery.

“We are working closely with customers because right now it is difficult to make even a medium term plan of say, three years, because the situation is not very secure,” the CEO says. “If COVID reoccurs lockdown

could happen – this is one key aspect of our plan; we need to be nimble, adjustable. If there’s a boom people will want more expensive products, but if there is a crash they will want cheaper products, so within our process there needs to be multiple skills.”

TOG plans to establish a distribution centre in Europe, to be closer to its overseas customers. This means they can order lenses as and when they need, instead of ordering in bulk and

HEALTHCARE

risking potential disruption to the supply chain. This model is lower risk and the CEO believes it will be popular with clients, especially in such a difficult period.

It is also investing into automation, as it is currently the safest way to continue manufacturing.

Another key strategic pillar for TOG over the upcoming months is digitisation – connectivity is particularly important for a company which has 95 percent of its customers located overseas.

“I grew up with the fax and the telegram and right now the amount of information that can be provided online is tremendous,” Pracharktam says. “For example, if you are having an eye test in the UK, the shop can

send us information of your details, your prescription and the frame you choose, such as the shape, then we can optimise it in the machine to create the perfect lenses for your requirements, and we send it back.

“The world is moving towards an increasing reliance on artificial intelligence, and because of this we need big data packages.”

The team at TOG has integrated digitisation into its strategy in order to connect with its customers, and provide the most optimised and

efficient services that it can for them.

The company relies on Thai engineers and suppliers to take the company forward into the future.

“We share technology with our suppliers but it’s not a model where suppliers come with foreign investment and their own engineers – we have good people here, and we are proud of operating this way,” the CEO concludes.

THAI OPTICAL GROUP (TOG) Tel: +66 (0) 2 194 1145 to 1150 info@thaiopticalgroup.com www.thaiopticalgroup.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 101

FUELCHIEF

102 | APAC Outlook issue 47

OIL & GAS

A FamilyFuelled Future A Kiwi family enterprise of more than 40 years, Fuelchief and its ultramodern, industryleading SuperVault tank look set to define the future of fuel storage across the APAC region Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Josh Hyland

F

amily businesses form the backbone of New Zealand’s economy.

Accounting for well over half of the nation’s employment and contributing a significant portion of its gross domestic product, these firms can rightly be regarded as the socioeconomic lifeblood of Kiwi society.

From agriculture and winemakers to hi-tech manufacturers and boutique hoteliers, families up and down the North and South Islands work tirelessly to ensure that New Zealand’s economic machine keeps on moving in what have been unprecedented times during the course of 2020.

In the energy space, Fuelchief

continues to stand proud as native family-ran enterprise.

Set up by Joe Deck, it represents a culmination of 40 years of hard graft across many disciplines, and today stands as the proud proprietor of what is widely seen as an industryleading large-scale fuel tank provider – offering the SuperVault.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 103

FUELCHIEF “I grew up in the regional New Zealand town of Motueka, which is located near Nelson at the top of the South Island of New Zealand,” Deck says, recounting how the business came to fruition.

“The area is known for its agricultural and horticultural industries and I did my apprenticeship as a mechanic servicing vehicles and machinery within those industries.

Having this background has been something I’ve been able to draw on many times over the years – plus, understanding machinery and how each part works has enabled me to connect with key clients and understand their needs.

“My father was involved in this servicing industry from the late 1960s, but changing times and markets brought about the need to sell the family business and move on to something wider than just the

community we lived in. We tried a few different things but finally settled on the fuel storage industry due to it being a wide requirement across many regions within our reach.”

A key moment arrived in 2009 when the duo purchased a small fuel accessories distribution business to add to their existing range of fuel tanks.

Another acquisition was made in 2017 when the firm bought out Advanced Fuel Tanks Ltd, the manufacturer of the specialist range of SuperVault fire-rated tanks.

Deck explains that this product has been the steppingstone for Fuelchief to approach customers in other countries, the fact he deals with multiple markets providing an extra point of interest to the CEO who believes that fossil fuels still have a key role to play in the world’s ongoing development.

Hendriks Blastings and Coatings Hendriks Blastings and Coatings was set up by Hank Hendriks back in 1973, who set about establishing a truly family firm which continues to provide leading services to customers.

The company can prepare almost any surface for painting and use the correct technique for every metal to obtain the best surface for a perfect finish.

With 15 staff and five mobile blasting units, including the mega unit containing three blasters, the team can go anywhere required throughout the South Island of New Zealand.

Quality doesn’t cost, it pays

office@hendriksblasting.com

FUELCHIEF – THE BASICS Based in New Zealand, Fuelchief is the result of more than four decades of quality design, innovative thinking and construction excellence in storage and management solutions for all liquid fuels.

Its solutions cater to a wide array of industries, including aviation, government, fuel distribution, marine, power generation, hire companies, civil construction, farming, logistics and freight, military, consultants and architects, forestry, manufacturing and mining.

Such clients are served by a wide range of solutions, from small 250 litre ute tanks through to the largest 110,000 litre SuperVault tanks, the company’s trademark. All tanks are compliant with the law in every market for diesel, petrol, aviation fuel, lubrication oils, ethanol, methanol and other chemicals.

“With ready solutions and support globally, the Fuelchief team is dedicated to customer service, quality production, robust manufacturing and durable solutions,” comments Deck. “We always endeavour to exceed our customers’ expectations through sound communication and keeping them informed, from their first phone call to the time their tank is onsite. “ “When fuel is one of your highest expenses, storing and managing it efficiently is critical to the success of your business operation and our people understand that.”

104 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Multiple Card Systems MCS is an established manufacturer of commercial cloud based fuel management systems, which are utilised across a range of industries around the globe.

With over 30 years of specialised industry knowledge, MCS continue to develop their products; fully realising the increasing pressures being placed on its customers.

In answer to these mounting pressures, MCS formed a strong working relationship with Fuel Chief. Together they have forged a successful collaboration, in particular seeing the rollout of the popular Sapphire Lite Fuel Management System on Fuelchief tanks across New Zealand and Australia.

E info@mcscardsystems.com www.mcscardsystems.com

OIL & GAS

No job too big, No job too small.

H W Hendriks is a wellknown family run business, established in 1973 with the 3rd generation now taking over the running of the company.

Full range of:

• Tank Linings for the aviation industry • Fuel Tanks, all with 3 coat system to meet PUR5, in accordance with ASN2312 requirement We specialise in: • Industrial Steel • Abrasive Blasting • Heavy Duty Industrial • Thermal Sprayed Aluminium Equipment • Thermal Sprayed Zinc • Truck Chassis/Cabs

For quotes/enquiries please contact reception T 03 323 8582 E office@hendriksblasting.com

Introducing the Sapphire Lite The next generation of low cost fuel management systems.

Commercial Fuel Management Systems

One box, three solutions: Choose your plan.

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APAC Outlook issue 47 | 105

FUELCHIEF “Fuel is an interesting product to work with,” he says. “Every country has wildly different views on how to legislate it, and it’s quite interesting to see the variations and approaches from governments around the world – yet we believe it’s our challenge to meet those varying needs and that’s the bit we continue to find interesting, and it’s very satisfying to be able to offer highly practical solutions across Asia Pacific.

“Many from the public would believe the use of fossil fuels is diminishing, yet statistics prove otherwise and we’re now becoming involved in some large projects requiring the storage of hundreds of thousands of litres.

“I have been favoured over many years with experiences across a wide range of industries including the farming and horticultural sectors, mining, and structural and civil engineering. I enjoy the fuel storage industry the most because of its wide-ranging market capture which brings our team in touch with a broad base of clients looking

106 | APAC Outlook issue 47

to improve their bottom lines through being more efficient.”

SUPERVAULT – A GLOBAL STANDARD-BEARER This is exactly what the company’s flagship product, SuperVault, can offer.

Carrying the most formidable certification of any above ground tank in the world, it exceeds regulations for fuel storage in every market and can be deployed in critical infrastructure projects globally, especially where space is tight or where fire-rated solutions are needed.

“This beauty of the SuperVault is that it can be custom engineered and offers elite fire-rated, bulletproof, impact-resistant technology and is fabricated and tested in accordance with SwRI 95-03, which makes it the safest and most durable tank in the world,” Deck proudly states.

“In many circumstances where diesel or petrol needs to be stored for commercial buildings, the SuperVault

has proven itself tenfold and is becoming the industry standard for tanks in buildings. In New Zealand it has been written into legislation through its SwRI 95-03 compliance.”

Indeed, Fuelchief has worked in tandem with many major data centres, governments and organisations to deploy the SuperVault – anywhere where safety and maximum uptime is critical. Organisations include Air BP, BECA, Aurecon, Air New Zealand, Prince Charles Hospital, Canterbury District Health Board and Citibank, among many others.

Another key attraction to the product is that it has been designed to withstand the extremities of the globe’s various climates. Fuelchief has SuperVault tanks deployed at Scott Base in Antarctica, while it also performs in blistering desert heat without the need for additional bunding.

This is because SuperVault’s thermally efficient inter tank material insulates the inner tank from the

OIL & GAS

www.motovated.co.nz

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elements of nature and fire, as well as providing secondary containment. The secondary containment conforms to the highest international requirements and is both pressure and vacuum testable on site.

Indeed, in the area of testing, it is fair to say that the SuperVault has been put through its paces.

“Around the world, new codes of practice and legislation often require all fire rated tanks to be either SwRI 95-03 (four-hour) or UL 2085 (twohour) approved,” says Deck. “The SuperVault is both. It is the only fourhour fireproof petrol tank certified for above ground, according to the Texasbased Southwest Research Institute’s 95-03 multi-hazard test.

“During this test, despite being subjected to fire, hose stream, projectiles and heavy-vehicle impact, the integrity of the SuperVault’s primary tank remained intact. This tank is also a popular choice for

5000 L

Stuart Jackson, General Manager Email: stuart.jackson@motovated.co.nz Phone: +64 3 982 5283

solvents, which often has the same flashpoint as petrol.

“It is the only fire-rated tank in the world that can be repaired and re-used after an incident such as a fire or impact has occurred. This cannot be said for other tanks, as the integrity of any tank certified to UL-2085

(two-hour) will be deemed to have been compromised and will not be compliant after the event.”

So, given all of these credentials, the objective for Deck and Fuelchief is to keep spreading the word.

He continues: “The power of education never goes astray, so we

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 107

FUELCHIEF are slowly educating and encouraging key stakeholders such as architects, electrical engineers and project managers to insist on SwRI 95-03 for fuel tanks that are to be placed in and around buildings, as this is not only the most compliant option for them, but the long-term investment choice.

These tanks have a 30-year warranty.”

POWERED

BY PARTNERS Q: How important are partner and supplier relationships to the success of your business?

Joe Deck: “I believe our suppliers are as important as our client base and we respect them in return. Quality, consistency, market-driven lead-times, value and payment terms are all part of what we offer, and we need a reliable supply chain to assist and allow us to offer this great service. We are always researching other markets for great ideas and looking for innovative companies to partner with to assist us in being thought leaders in the countries in which we operate.”

108 | APAC Outlook issue 47

A DIVERSIFIED FUTURE Another key part of spreading the word, not only about SuperVault but Fuelchief’s entire range of tanks, involves the advancement of an agent programme.

Deck plans to grow this outreach initiative through the course of 2021, which centres around partnering with agents across the Asia Pacific region who can reach a wider range of potential clients, utilising and building a stronger local contact base.

Such agents are already likely to be working in the industry, but will not have had the advantage of pitching solutions such as SuperVault to their clients.

Fuelchief is also looking to grow its presence in the power generation market, which is witnessing heightening demand for dieselpowered back-up generators for large building complexes. Critical fuel storage is mandatory in these situations.

“We have been contacting consulting engineers, architects, electrical engineers, land developers, builders, electrical contractors, and generator suppliers and educating the market on the distinct advantages we can bring to their project with the aforementioned Fuelchief SuperVault – noting its huge benefits for the environment and legislative compliance, now and in the future,” Deck explains.

“In our opinion, it is a sensible decision, and one with a lot less implication, to make the SuperVault choice. We are now in an age where the public is much more aware of the potential risks of pollution and flooding and we have very strict regulations covering fuel storage, and the consequences and penalties for any neglect can be huge.”

To accomplish these expansion objectives, Deck is all too aware of how important his team of 25-plus staff will continue to be.

While the CEO has spoken at

length about the credentials of the SuperVault, he firmly believes that the real strength within the company is its team, who bring a wealth of knowledge and industry-leading service levels to both local and international customers.

And though the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted what were previously deemed normal ways of working, Deck explains that Fuelchief is built around a diversified culture of loyalty, commitment and drive, underpinned by an open-door idea sharing policy.

The conversation soon turns to the CEO’s thoughts on how to fulfil Fuelchief’s undoubted growth potential.

“Our long-term success requires a total commitment to exceptional lean manufacturing standards, investment in our employees, and educating the market of changes and better ways

to store fuel for their business, as well as innovation and productivity,” Deck says.

“Working together effectively with a willingness to embrace new ideas and continuous learning allows us to be at the forefront of our industry.

We believe that to succeed requires the highest standards of corporate behaviour towards our employees, suppliers, clients and the world in which we operate.”

OIL & GAS

The Fuelchief management team is integral to the vision and strategy of the company and its longevity.

The team comprised of Finance, Operations, Sales, Business Development and Marketing along with CEO Joe Deck and Hamish McLean, meet monthly to review the market, track Fuelchief performance and work towards innovation in our field of tank manufacturing He concludes: “Over the last 40 years, we have satisfied clients with thousands of refuelling solutions across several nations, and we invite you to join the conversation so you can achieve better operational excellence.

We strive to offer impeccable service, which is challenging at times, but all things that are worth doing well sometimes require that little extra. Our team is ready to help by going that extra mile.�

While Deck acknowledges the difficulties brought about in 2020 that nobody could have foreseen as 2019 drew to a close, he views 2021 as the year to innovate and succeed, helping more customers to achieve operational gains while taking the pain of non-compliant fuel storage away.

FUELCHIEF Tel: +64 3 384 2380 info@fuelchieftanks.com www.fuelchieftanks.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 109

AJ LUCAS

Dependable Drilling

110 | APAC Outlook issue 47

MINING Brett Tredinnick, CEO of AJ Lucas, discusses how the company has built a competitive advantage in Australia’s mining sector thanks to its reputation as a reliable partner Writer: Sean Galea-Pace Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

Drilling in Australia is relatively buoyant at the moment,” declares Brett Tredinnick, CEO of AJ Lucas (ASX: AJL).

“Our coal mine centred market has shown solid demand and there is still plenty of opportunity to place rigs in the general exploration market.

It’s always a challenge to continue to increase efficiency and reduce cost in a safe workspace.”

Mining in Australia is one of the country’s most renowned and wellestablished industries. It is a key contributor to its national economy, consisting of around seven percent of total GDP. As the fourth largest mining country worldwide, after China, Russia and the United States, Australia continues to experience ongoing demand for high-tech equipment, which showcases potential opportunities for suppliers.

Over the past few decades, the industry and Lucas have grown together in tandem. Founded in 1958, AJ Lucas established itself as a high-quality building sub-contractor.

In the years that followed, it has utilised its engineering expertise to provide specialist, niche engineering, construction and drilling services to the key sectors of energy, water and wastewater, resources and solid project management.

Based in Brisbane, Lucas possesses a fleet of 41 multi-purpose drill rigs designed specifically to service the coal market, supported by around 400 technical and administrative staff. The organisation has operations in major APAC Outlook issue 47 | 111

AJ LUCAS coal producing basins of Australia’s east coast including the Southern Coalfields, the Western Coalfield, the Gunnedah Coalfield, the Hunter Coalfield and the Bowen Basin.

Tredinnick grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales, and was surrounded by the coal and steelmaking industries, providing a backdrop for a seamless transition into the sector following the completion of his schooling. Prior to becoming the Group CEO in January 2020, Tredinnick had been involved with the organisation for over 20 years. He has worked in a variety of roles within the

company and has led and introduced initiatives that have kept Lucas’s Australian business safe, profitable, innovative and a leader in its field.

“We’ve previously successfully led the drilling business through a significant coal market downturn, with minimal impact and disruption to business, employees and customers,” he explains. “We have also managed to restructure and integrate the pipeline, drilling and support functions into a centralised lean operating platform while the business was undergoing severe market downturn and cash flow problems.

KEY SERVICES

AJ LUCAS DIRECTIONAL DRILLING: Industry leading capabilities in a lateral drilling technique that provides a more efficient and environmentally friendly solution to the requirement for draining gas prior to mining operations.

The benefit of this technique is that the drilling and production of the wells can be installed many years in advance of the planned mine workings therefore enhancing the safety of mining staff. Further, this technique enables mine operators to use extracted methane as fuel for heating or power generation.

LARGE DIAMETER DRILLING: Industry leading capabilities in a vertical drilling technique that provides a more effective and flexible solution to the gas drainage of the longwall goaf post mining operations. This technique is employed to control gas emissions at the longwall face, once again enhancing safety as well as reducing production delays arising from gas make into the tailgate.

EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT DRILLING: Multi-purpose capabilities in the exploration and development drilling on both brownfield and greenfield sites. It is critically important miners explore their resources to understand its potential benefit. Exploration drilling facilitates this very important stage in the mining process. Together with the standard geological information regarding strata sequences and thickness and possible indications of structures, boreholes can be tested for: • Coal quality, washability, rock strength and other properties.

• Stress magnitude and direction.

Hofco Oilfield Hofco Oilfield is a leading provider of oil and gas down hole equipment for hire as well as many other services related to drilling oil, gas and coal seam gas wells.

With 40 years of Australian and International experience, we have built our business on reputation for superior quality down hole tools, drill pipe strings and exceptional service.

In addition to supplying oil and gas drilling tools, Hofco also provides many other services to our clients including: asset management of drill pipe down hole drilling equipment; oil and gas drilling and service rigs Nondestructive testing (NDT) and OCTG inspection services; procurement of and servicing of down hole motors and other speciality down hole drilling tools; and fishing and well intervention design which includes onsite services.

www.hofco.com.au

Dilong Drilling Services Dilong Drilling Services is an Australian owned company with a highly skilled and experienced team providing innovative drilling solutions and products.

Our team have over 100 years combined experience in hard rock drilling. We specialise in analysing the drilling application and designing cost effective and efficient systems/ methods. We are skilled in all facets of drilling applications, systems/ methods and consumables and focus heavily in developing innovative solutions to every challenge.

We partner with some of the best and most experienced suppliers and operators in the industry to provide a full-service operation.

• Ground water information.

• Seam and surrounding strata gas content and composition.

112 | APAC Outlook issue 47

T +61 7 3344 1503 E sales@dilingdrilling.com.au www.dilongdrilling.com.au

MINING

Leading providers of down-hole tools and oilfield equipment hire PRODUCT AND SERVICES • • • • •

AUSTRALIAN OWNED AND OPERATED

Asset Management & Procurement Oilfield Equipment Rental Oilfield Equipment Servicing Oilfield Equipment Inspections Fishing & Well Intervention

Tel: (+61) 7 555 22 000 | Fax: (+61) 7 555 22 020 | Mob: (+61) 412 377 881 | www.hofco.com.au

Dilong Drilling Sevices proudly supports AJ Lucas’s mining operations nationally.

www.dilongdrilling.com.au

+61 7 3344 1503 | sales@dilongdrilling.com.au

Dilong Drilling’s extensive experience and proven track record in meeting challenges and designing solutions contribute to getting jobs done on time and on budget.

We design, fabricate, manufacture, supply, service and hire equipment to optimize performance, profit, safety and environmental sustainability for every drilling application.

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 113

AJ LUCAS “Since becoming CEO, our team have managed to maintain our market share and stay ahead of customer requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Tredinnick affirms that one of his biggest challenges so far in his tenure has been navigating the COVID-19 landscape – however, the way in which

the organisation has mitigated its impact is cause for pride.

“It’s been difficult to manage a mostly fly in fly out workforce during the pandemic,” adds Tredinnick.

“Thanks to early action, commitment from our customers and our people, we have remained COVID free and downtime on site has been negligible.”

A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH Lucas is a market leader in surface to inseam drilling techniques and has drained over 100 kilometres of coal in advance for safer mining. This has meant zero interaction with the underground mining operations as it is all completed from the surface with no requirement for people to go underground in the mine itself.

The technology is tried and tested, and allows miners to drain unwanted methane gas well in advance of mining operations to the benefit of their own safety. This also means that technology allows for the capture and utilisation of the methane gas, generating power for re-use instead of emitting into the atmosphere. Lucas will continue to further enhance the technology, reaching further laterally and also removing an increasing amount of surface infrastructure whilst aiming for an even lower surface footprint and a lower impact on the environment.

Lucas has always had a considerable influence on the local and regional communities that it works in. This consists of the employment of locals, sponsorships of young sports stars of the future, local sporting clubs or staff-driven contributions to those recognised charities such as Multiple Sclerosis Australia.

Hard Metal Industries HMI offers a comprehensive range of drilling tools, covering applications such as large diameter PDC tools, ground engineering applications, water drilling, casing systems and tunneling applications.

We have inhouse manufacturing facilities, providing design, engineering, manufacture, and maintenance. Machining is undertaken on our 7 CNC and 3 manual machines, including 5 axis milling. Custom tools for construction, mining and the drilling industry are developed and manufactured in house, to our customer’s requirements HMI is proud to be supporting our customers.

www.hmi.com.au

Oz-Tac Engineering Oz-Tac Engineering are specialists in tailored, innovative manufacturing solutions.

We are proud to be recognised as leaders in our industry both regionally and nationally through private company, industry partnerships and Australian Defence Force projects.

Our facilities are extensive with a head office based in Gympie, our mobile teams can service other regional and metropolitan areas within Queensland and the rest of Australia.

As well as steel manufacturing, Oz-Tac can offer a full suite of additional services in house; • • • • • • •

Abrasive blasting Industrial Coatings Machining Plasma Cutting Crane Hire Prime Mover Transportation Full compliance documentation

www.oztacengineering.com.au

114 | APAC Outlook issue 47

MINING

PERFORMANCE YOU CAN TRUST Design • Engineer • Manufacture • Maintain

+61 (07) 3714 5700 | www.hmi.com.au | sales@hmi.com.au PDC Bits and Hole Openers | Stabilisers and Subs | Recovery Tools | Custom Tools | Hammers Bits and Casing Systems

100% Australian Owned and Operated, providing engineering soluti tio ons since 2003.

Oz-Tac Engineering has previously partnered with some of the largest, most successful and recognised companies and industry leaders across the country. We have the depth of experience in the engineering industry where we clearly understand not only functionality, but compliance.

www.oztacengineering.com.au APAC Outlook issue 47 | 115

AJ LUCAS

Brett Tredinnick, CEO

“THERE ARE EXCITING TRIALS UNDERWAY TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE WELL CONSTRUCTION COST FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. IN ADDITION, WE PLAN TO CONTINUE TO EXPLORE OTHER MARKET OPPORTUNITIES ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS” Short term COVID impact aside, Lucas is primarily exposed to metallurgical coal which has strong long-term fundamentals. Base world steel demand in tandem with significant rises in Indian steel production are anticipated to drive increased global demand over the next 15 years.

In addition to being a leading provider of drilling services, primarily to the Australian coal industry, the organisation is also an investor in the exploration, appraisal and commercialisation of oil and gas prospects in the UK, with a long and proven history of returns from conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resource investments.

116 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Tredinnick believes that the organisation’s competitive advantage comes from its determination to deliver best-in-class customer support, the CEO going on to describe some of the firm’s ongoing activities.

“Lucas delivers intelligent and practical solutions to support the Australian mining sector in green and brownfield exploration as well as pre and post drainage of mine gas via vertical and specialised directional drilling methods,” he says.

“Geographically, we’re currently drilling on the eastern seaboard of Australia, but have and will continue to drill anywhere across Australia.

Our strategic bases in Moranbah, Queensland, and the Illawarra,

New South Wales, provide a solid foundation for strong customer support. Our clients are predominantly Tier 1 coal mining companies, where we employ around 300 people and drilled 569,500 metres during the latest financial year.”

Indeed, Lucas is the only drilling company in Australia that offers an integrated, end-to-end, solution to design and drill a customer’s wells.

The organisation has in-house drilling engineering and directional drilling (steering) capability that it uses daily, and Tredinnick believes his company’s ability to be agile and respond to the latest trends and demands within the market is vital.

“Lucas has always looked for market openings coupled with the right people to deliver a safe performance for our customers,” he affirms. “We’re also not scared to alter and adapt our processes to suit our clients’ requirements, and we continue to look for better ways to do every job. We get in and roll up our sleeves to deliver for our customers. This includes designing and building a new type of surface to in-seam drilling rig.”

Tredinnick works hard to ensure his organisation meets the demands of its customers and affirms Lucas’s wideranging expertise truly sets it apart from its competitors.

“One of our customers is a Tier 1 mining company and requires a wide range of drilling to be undertaken over two coal mine sites,” he continues.

“We drill a full suite of well types, from exploration through vertical drainage to specialised surface to in-seam (SIS) extended reach drainage to drain methane from the mining area to enable safe extraction of the coal.

“Our crews and their safe performance are integral to our customer’s overall performance and as such are closely monitored by our customer for safe operations. Recently, we achieved one-year injury free across both sites with 13 rigs, more than 100 people and over 250,000 hours worked. The

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feedback from our customer was that our crews were seen to be part of the customer’s team and they were very proud of our performance.”

Tredinnick also understands the value of an efficient and effective supply chain and believes Lucas’s key suppliers are at the heart of operations.

“Without our key suppliers delivering for our operations we wouldn’t be able to support our customers at the high level that we do,” he explains. “Our suppliers also share our vision of unlocking efficiency and reducing overall cost for our customers. Most of our suppliers have been a part of our success for a long period of time. We are proud of the supplier relationships that we have been able to forge over the last 20 years and we are looking forward to continuing them.”

With the future in mind, Tredinnick has a clear idea of what he hopes the next few years to look like at AJ Lucas.

EARTHMOVING

www.equipmenthub.net

“I expect us to continue to provide safe and efficient operations as well as reduce well construction times with zero incidents. Ultimately, our overall aim is to decrease the cost for customers,” he says.

“It’s important that we continue to explore new technologies to the drilling market in order to improve data delivery and reduce cost.

There are exciting trials underway to significantly reduce well construction cost for our customers. In addition, we plan to continue to explore other market opportunities on a case-bycase basis.”

AJ LUCAS Tel: +61 7 3363 7333 sales@lucas.com.au www.lucas.com.au

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 117

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS

K

azakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country.

It’s bordered by a number of nations including Russia to its north, China in the east, and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in the south, and yet is vast enough to also border the Caspian Sea.

We caught up with JSC AK Altynalmas to discuss the company’s evolution towards full digitalisation within the mining industry in Kazakhstan Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

Revolutionising Resource Extraction While landlocked, the country is geographically diverse with its lands ranging from snow-capped mountains, and rolling green hills, to open steppes, rocky canyons, river deltas, and arid deserts.

And with access to all of this varied land and accompanying natural resources, Kazakhstan finds itself as a key Asian contributor to the oil and gas industry through its natural gas reserves, and equally as impressive, a driver in the Asian mining industry through the vast amount of natural minerals available.

Traditionally (that is to also say historically) mining has been a “hands on” industry with more focus on individual workers, manually operated machinery, and factors such as safety, sustainability, and efficiency often coming second to raw output.

However, in the present, we see everything has changed.

The jump between the old-school methods and modern practices is huge. Today, modern mining incorporates smarter plans, innovative ideas, and the latest technology to aid in the establishment of these once lacking business elements.

We are seeing the application of digital tools in almost every area of every industrial activity, and mining is no exception. Software such as 3D 118 | APAC Outlook issue 47

MINING

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 119

AAEngineering Group – EPC contractor on the mining and metallurgical market.

AAE Mission:

AAE offers:

We are striving to become a regional leader and a strong strategic partner in the design, construction and operation of the mining and energy industries.

• Transparent and comprehensible engineering, procurement and construction contract (including FIDIC Silver Book).

• A full range of engineering and construction services tailored to the Customer’s criteria with the use of advanced tools and technologies.

• Latest improvements in the energy efficiency of designed enterprises and alternative energy sources.

• Cost optimisation by engagement of a wide range of our own equipment and construction machinery and cooperation with our long-standing partners.

• Advanced technologies in the area of information modelling (BIM) and Digital Twin creation.

AAE is the only supplier of ready-made solutions for the mining industry within the CIS region: • • • • • •

site engineering survey design and engineering construction reaching up to design parameters operation of mining and concentrating facilities maintenance of mining and processing facilities

Our principles of project implementation • • • • • • •

Study of the Customer’s technical expectations at the FEED stage.

Better alignment of the offered equipment with the existing solutions of the Customer.

Aligning the content and transfer of the operating information model (COBie).

Developing a project-specific risk management programme at the conceptual design stage.

Development of a detailed project schedule to meet expectations of both the Customer and independent consultant of the bank.

Implementing a comprehensive digital 5D model using the leading technologies and tools.

Creating the shared information space for better collaboration of the teams of the Customer / EPC Contractor / Suppliers and Subcontractors and more effective project data management (ProjectWise).

• Advanced techniques of construction site management as part of the Construction Driven Engineering (Advanced Work Packaging).

• Cooperation only with qualified process equipment suppliers and reliable subcontractors.

AAE. Engineering Industrial Value.

Republic of Kazakhstan 21 Rakhmadiyev Street, Nur-Alatau micro-district, Bostandyk district, city of Almaty +7 (727) 228 25 65 (Telephone) +7 (727) 228 25 66 (Fax) Info@aaengineering.kz

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS mapping and CAD (computer aided design) used to generate digital underground maps allow companies greater insight into mine planning than ever before. And the automation of machinery improves accuracy, efficiency, reliability, and cost effectiveness.

PAST TO PRESENT Diyar Kanashev, CEO

MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES MISSION: We transform the potential of the subsoil into golden opportunities for society, employees, investors, and other stakeholders.

VISION: To become a leading company in the Central Asian gold mining sector. The priority geography of the company’s interests is Kazakhstan.

VALUES: - Sustainable development: In our approaches, we focus on long-term and stable development.

- Safety: The safety and health of our employees is our priority.

- Respect for the environment: We use natural resources rationally and strive to minimize the adverse impact of our activities on the environment.

- One team: We help each other and take responsibility for the team result.

- Our employees: We value, develop and care for our employees.

122 | APAC Outlook issue 47

JSC AK Altynalmas has been a major player in Kazakhstan’s mining industry since 1993.

The company mines gold ore deposits and other minerals all over the country. It prides itself on being set apart from its competition through its projects, programmes, and employeecentric business methods.

Diyar Kanashev has been CEO of the firm for over 10 years and has witnessed the transformation of the sector from a relatively manual operation to what is now a digitised and far more sophisticated series of processes.

“The adaptations within the industry have created us golden opportunities,” he tells us.

The Asian mining sphere is currently one of change, challenge, promise and, for Diyar, excitement. With access to Kazakhstan’s vast natural resources

and as a growing company, hard work is accompanied by high reward for the employees of Altynalmas.

Before joining the company, Diyar worked in the City of London for many years. Initially, this was with Norton Rose (now Norton Rose Fullbright - one of the world’s largest law firms) as a lawyer, with a focus on the legal side of mining industry related transactions. Thereafter, he left his legal career behind to become an investment banker with Merrill Lynch International (now part of one of the world’s biggest banks - Bank of America).

After gaining the collective experience in the financial consultation and transactional side of the industry, he decided it was time to pursue his career in the operational side. Diyar looked to become involved directly in mining back home in Kazakhstan, and when the opportunity came up to work with gold ore deposits for Altynalmas, he seized the moment.

He has been able to watch the incorporation of different methods, techniques, and tools that have changed and shaped the way Altynalmas functions in the present day.

AAEngineering Group is a General Contractor and performs construction, modernization, and operation of numerous industrial facilities of any complexity.

Having in our arsenal more than 10 successfully completed large projects, we have assembled a team of professionals who solve problems in the field of technological research, design, integrated supply of materials and equipment, construction, as well as commissioning and ramping up to design capacity.

Using virtual reality systems even at the design stage helps to find better and more thought-out technical solutions.

From year to year, projects become more technologically and technically complex, and customers tighten their reporting requirements and deadlines at all stages. The struggle for a package of orders is intensifying, and more bidders are participating in the tenders. Different types of sanctions, quarantine, and closure of borders during the pandemic also have a serious impact on the stability of doing business.

In conditions of high competition in the field of design and construction, as well as due to the complexity of high-tech projects implementation using classical methods, the company decided to introduce digital technologies into the company’s business processes that will provide full control and transparency at all stages of the project life cycle.

This digital transformation has impacted all aspects of the company’s operations ranging from classical design to handover to Client and reaching projects’ top design parameters.

The basis for implementing information modeling technologies was the creation of a single information space for all project participants. Bentley systems was chosen as the supplier of automation solutions.

ProjectWise became the main system of engineering document flow.

To improve the interaction between the design team and the construction site, as well as to monitor and control the construction and installation work, we began to use laser scanning and photogrammetry systems.

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T +7 (727) 228 25 65

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Construction is another area where digital change is taking place. Synchro Control became the platform that linked the digital model of the object created by the engineers in the office to the construction site, adding time and resources to the developed model. The cloud portal became a place for exchange and storage of engineering and executive project documentation.

Technically and technologically complex projects require the integration of many data from different sources. All this variety of information, both graphical and attributive, and constantly changing in time, is collected in one place using the new iTwin technology.

Using iTwin services we have an opportunity to analyze, check and visualize any data collected in a single information model of the whole project.

Having gone a long way of technical and technological changes, from classical design to building digital twins, our company does not stop there. We not only optimize our current business processes, but also open new areas of activity. The company’s plans for the near future include the use of mixed reality systems based on Microsoft Hololens 2, monitoring and analysis of information received from IoT sensors connected to the iTwin platform, the use of machine learning systems (ML) at the stages of operation.

AAEngineering Group has the following awards of prestigious international competitions:

The company’s goal is to implement all projects using digital technologies. The use of various software products in our work allows us to create consolidated information models of all construction facilities with complete attributive information.

Kazakhstan

Equipping construction sites with drones made it possible to promptly receive complete information about the construction progress in the form of a digital textured model collected from photographs.

• the winner in Year in Infrastructure 2018 award category “Construction”.

• the winner of Tekla awards 2018 (the Best Industrial Project); • the winner of Russia-wide BIM 2019/2020 (the Best Foreign Project); • the winner in Year in Infrastructure2020 in two award categories: “Land and Site Development” and “Mining and Offshore Engineering”.

E info@aaengineering.kz

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aaengineering.kz

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS The firm’s 2017 Digital Mine Programme is a prime example of this.

This initiative was designed to, and has successfully, changed the way methods of mining are practiced at the company.

It brought about the shift towards automation and digitisation of processes – increasing operational efficiency, reducing production costs, and improving the safety for, and performance of, personnel through new best practices, innovative approaches, and the newest technology and tools.

The programme has delivered over 20 projects in the past three years that have been necessary in the company’s aim to move forward.

“When coming across a Tier one level of gold ore, you build a deposit and can exploit it for decades, and even live off that alone. In our

situation however, it is typical for the gold deposits to be geographically distributed and scattered across distances,” Diyar explains.

“So, in Kazakhstan we are facing many small-to-medium scale deposits that may not be such an attractive proposition when mined alone, but when collectively consolidated alongside others, you can amass a scale of great value.”

Due to the country’s wide variety of terrains and environments, the process of mining gold ore and other minerals dictates the use of multiple forms of mining methods. Rock mechanics, metallurgy, hydrology, and many other disciplines are required on-and-off depending on the location, and mining various areas requires meticulous attention to detail and a lot of research and planning.

SRK Consulting Kazakhstan SRK has been working with Altynalmas since 2012 and has assisted them with a broad range of technical services and disciplines. SRK has trained Altynalmas staff to follow JORC reporting standards for Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.

These standards have been critical in obtaining funding required to finance the growth of new projects.

Mining Project Evaluation SRK specialists can provide an integrated approach to your viability studies (including scoping, feasibility and prefeasibility), reviews, economic evaluations, and risk assessments.

Mineral Exploration SRK’s services include target generation, field mapping, remote sensing and geophysics, geochemistry, mineral system modelling, project management, audits and valuations, exploration strategy and governmental advice.

Geology and Resources

SNAPSHOT

DIGITAL MINE PROGRAMME Among the projects delivered by the Digital Mine Programme are: The automation of maintenance and repair of stationary and movable equipment: • Formation of technological maps for equipment • Transition to the “Equipment Reliability Management” method • Implementation of a tool to improve the quality of MRO planning and optimise resources for MRO

SRK estimates mineral deposits using tools that minimise risks, lower costs, and reduce time frames. We use 3D modelling software combined with geostatistical methods to model commodity distribution.

Our specialists comply with CIM, JORC, and other internationally recognised best practices and requirements.

Mine Engineering We offer an independent, technically detailed perspective of project feasibility at all stages of mine development and operation. Existing operations benefit from our reviews, audit, and engineering services.

Water Management

• A cloud-based big-data analysis system powered by artificial intelligence

Water is a precious commodity, and the quantity and quality available is a critical issue for many. We deliver solutions that are appropriate, practical, and cost-effective.

• Implementation of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES)

Mining Geotechnics

The automation of a gold recovery plant:

• Forthcoming migration to a Digital Twin model based of operations The automation of a mining and geological complex: • Implementation of advanced solutions in the field of rock mechanics, slope stability, and geology • Implementation of short interval control empowered by digital tools • Automatic collection and online display of information

124 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Our geotechnical professionals have extensive experience in designing and operating stable underground mines, pit slopes, tunnels, road cuttings, and tailings dams.

Mine Waste Management SRK develops stable waste management facilities that are designed for practical operation and cost-effective closure, meeting local permitting requirements, and the best global practices.

Focused Advice and Mining Solutions

SRK delivers a range of specialised services to the earth and water resource industries.

For mining clients, these services cross the project life cycle, from early stage exploration through development and operations to closure.

Mineral Resource Estimates • Technical Studies • Due Diligence • Exploration For over 45 years, SRK has provided technical services to mining clients. SRK is employee-owned and delivers independent, practical advice. Our engineers and scientists have the multidisciplinary expertise, operational experience and global knowledge to meet your project’s unique requirements.

mbeare@srk.co.uk | +44 7841 8000 58 | srk.com

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS

Albion Process™ Altynalmas to treat multiple feeds through its Albion Process™ leaching hub Altynalmas will use an Albion Process™ leaching hub to treat multiple bulk base metal and precious metal feeds containing varying proportions of Cu-Zn-Co-Au-Ag along with deleterious impurities.

After reviewing options, Altynalmas chose Glencore Technology’s Albion Process™ for its project economics, simplicity of operation and tolerances of varying feeds.

Albion Process™ uses an IsaMill and Albion leach reactors to combine mechanical and chemical liberation and create a solution that is lower in costs and less prone to process disruption.

Albion Process™ has six installations around the world in base and precious metals. The Altynalmas Albion Process™ leaching hub project will commence late 2021.

www.albionprocess.com

The 2017 Digital Mine Programme also carries sustainability benefits.

The common use of digital tools means that Altynalmas can conduct its operations using coherent and timely information and yet form its decisions on the basis of reliable data. This in turn, enables the company to run multiple mines at multiple sites format of operations making the most out of what the geology presents.

“We are striving to be a 100 percent digitalised company. This will increase our business competitiveness as well as allow us to provide us with new value-producing opportunities,” Diyar tells us.

AI technology is one of the many modern innovations to hit the mining industry in Asia, and Altynalmas has been incorporating AI-powered software into its business practices to better monitor the mining process.

“One can now monitor the process even without physical presence at the mining plant – for engineers all the 126 | APAC Outlook issue 47

key indicators of the grinding process are now available to display and view live on their smartphone screens, 24-seven,” Diyar tells us.

This is a significant step toward migration to the Digital Twins based model of operations and provides the company with a significant advantage over older methods of practice. After the sites can be remotely monitored, operators and employees will be able to provide consultation to on-site personnel from afar, reducing the need for person-to-person contact and operational expenses, as well as the impracticality and cost of employee travel and accommodation.

As for worker safety, digitalisation allows for distanced work, meaning that employees need not be on-site as often as they previously had to be.

And it has, of course, increased job NO.1 GLOBAL SUPPLIER OF satisfaction levels.

COMMERCIAL EXPLOSIVES “The AI powered platform allows to monitor and predict ball charge level as well as the frequency of

Orica EMEA & CIS We’re here to help our customers find success. It’s our expertise, scale and commitment to sustainable and safe solutions that opens up opportunities and creates enduring value.

As the world’s largest provider of commercial explosives and innovative blasting systems, we remain committed to providing expert services to the mining, quarrying, construction, and oil and gas markets.

From commercial explosives and blasting systems, supply of sodium cyanide for gold extraction and expert ground support services, we have the right people on the ground ready to partner with you in your region.

IGNITING OPPORTUNITY, DELIVERING VALUE

www.oricaminingservices.com

MINING

How Altynalmas will use Albion Process™ to treat multiple feeds for less Altynalmas will treat five feeds through one new Albion Process™ leaching hub, for lower capex and opex and better performance, than from any competing technology.

The Albion Process™ plant will include IsaMill™ grinding technology and proprietary Albion Leach Reactors.

Refractory gold, refractory gold/ cobalt and polymetallic bulk copper-zinc-gold-silver feeds will be treated through a technology that: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Albion Process™ can make the difference between feasible and not. Testing its amenability is simple. It begins with lab testwork and then a scoping study. If that’s confirmed, it gets variability testwork then engineering. After commissioning, we ensure your plant is working to design rates.

Costs less Tolerates variable feed rates and grades Is simpler to us Is faster to ramp up Delivers target results Requires no pilot plant Is commercially proven Is safer than POx

To learn more, visit AlbionProcess.com

The high availability of Albion Process™ means swapping between feeds will be seamless for their team.

IGNITING OPPORTUNITY, DELIVERING VALUE NO.1 GLOBAL SUPPLIER OF COMMERCIAL EXPLOSIVES

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 127

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS

Leica Geosystems Kazakhstan Hexagon Mine Monitoring are pleased to be a technological partner for monitoring systems of JSC AK Altyn Almas.

Today, the most advanced radar of the IDS Georadar company - IBIS ArcSAR Performance is successfully operating at the Pustynnoye Mine.

Real-time, all-weather, sub-millimeter accuracy is obtained in continuous radar slope monitoring to support Altyn Almas in achieving safe production.

changing the mill liners to maintain the optimal range for throughput and grinding effectiveness without unnecessarily having to stop the mill for inspections,” Diyar continues.

“Before the introduction of the system, our engineers used to measure the ball charge level in the mill manually, which resulted in greater frequency of the stoppage of the production process.

“The presence and application of highly sophisticated products such as AI software would definitely make any place to be more attractive for work. We are very proud that both teams (the AI technology provider and of Altynalmas) who have worked restlessly to make that happen.”

Alongside this fluidity of company processes, for Diyar, the presence of reliable, uninterrupted supply arrangements to minimise capital deployed and maximise supply distribution is of major importance.

Digitalisation is a key enabler for greater accuracy over operational 128 | APAC Outlook issue 47

“THE PRESENCE AND APPLICATION OF HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED PRODUCTS SUCH AS AI SOFTWARE WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE ANY PLACE TO BE MORE ATTRACTIVE FOR WORK” demand for spare parts, consumables and maintenance works. Being in greater control over such things, makes the company a more desirable business partner to those on the supply chain side of the industry and opens up more a prospect for more efficient deployment of capital.

THE FUTURE OF MINING As for forward-focused company plans, Altynalmas aims to commission several new operational plants to expand its services in the industry.

The first of these is forecast to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2021 and was engineered with the application of BIM technology (in October 2020, this project won

Bentley Global Infrastructure Award in “Mining and Offshore Engineering” nomination).

“Direction of our growth heads towards expanding our mining facilities and plants. We are about to commission the construction of another big project in Kazakhstan, which will be a gold and poly metallic deposit. Because of this, we are gradually evolving to not only mining and producing gold, but also extract certain other commodities such as copper, zinc and cobalt” Diyar explains to us.

Elements such as zinc and cobalt are also among the minerals the company is turning its focus to. The branch into a wider range of minerals

MINING

HxGN MineMonitoring Safety first and first in safety

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 129

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS

WORKING WITH GLENCORE Alongside Glencore, Altynalmas is developing the Albion Mega Hub project. This mining plant is designed to extract the value of refractory ore deposits, granting the company the chance to become a mid-tier gold producer globally.

Bakhrom Dzhalolov, Chief Operating Officer, explains the context and processes behind the project.

Modern gold extraction: “The ore is recovered from gold bearing minerals in the earth’s crust.

The two main types of gold deposits are primary and secondary. Secondary gold deposits are formed from the “weathering” or the oxidation of the sulphide minerals in a primary gold deposit by the action of temperature, water, and wind over millions of years. Gold is generally easier, cheaper, and more economical to recover from secondary gold deposits. However, secondary gold deposits in the world are nearly depleted, and the majority of gold produced is from primary gold deposits.

Gold from this type of deposit can be free milling (similar recovery method as secondary deposit) or refractory to direct cyanide leaching. In a refractory ore the gold is locked in sulphide mineral as solid solution.”

Extraction investigated: “The company owns several refractory ore deposits. To recover the gold from refractory ore, the gold bearing sulphide minerals are recovered by flotation process to produce a high-grade gold sulphide concentrate. The sulphide concentrate is then converted to oxide mineral to expose the gold to cyanide leaching. Altynalmas completed research using bacterial oxidation on three refractory ore deposits in 2013. In 2018 a feasibility study was completed to install a bacterial oxidation plant to process refractory concentrates form the Akbakai mine cluster and KariernoyePribalkhaskoye. Considering that the company owns several refractory ore deposits, an alternative oxidation process ought to be investigated.”

The Albion Process: “This is another method of sulphide mineral oxidation. The process requires grinding the sulphide concentrate to eight to 10 micron and then oxidising the sulphide mineral by supersonic oxygen injection in the Albion leach reactor. The Albion Process is more versatile and can process different types of concentrate together without affecting the oxidation chemical reaction.

By contrast, in a bacterial oxidation the live bacteria are adopted to a specific quality of concentrate and will lose its activity if fed with a different quality concentrate.

“In 2019 the Albion amenability test was completed on flotation concentrates from several refractory ore deposits. It was confirmed that the concentrates are amenable to Albion oxidation process. In 2020 the concentrate from gold/silver/copper/zinc Mizek deposit was also confirmed to be amenable to Albion oxidative process. During test work, no problem was encountered when the concentrates were mixed and oxidized in the Albion leach reactor.

Bakhrom Dzhalolov

130 | APAC Outlook issue 47

“Altynalmas is looking at building a common Albion oxidation plant to process sulphide concentrates from its deposits to recover gold, silver, copper, cobalt, and zinc. Glencore Technology will shortly commence the Class 3 Engineering Design of the Albion Mega Hub, which will be completed in April 2021.”

MINING

provides a degree of natural hedge against fluctuations of the gold price, and also opens up new route of business partnership with other companies interested in treating their non-gold mineral resources. From a business model prospective, acquiring capabilities in treating refractory and polymetallic ore-concentrates gives the company a more robust business model.

Firstly, it makes its business not limited by the life period of mines it owns and turns it into an almost perpetual business model.

Secondly, it gives exposure to the processing industry margins and

significantly widens its geographic reach extending it to the producers of concentrate on the continent.

Last, but not least, development of processing capabilities with application of environmentally friendly hydrometallurgy technology (for more detail, please be referred to the “Working with Glencore” part of the article) is also underpinned by our “Respect for the Environment” value and we hope to thus reduce the impact that the industry makes on our planet.

Altynalmas is also focusing on the increase in sustainability practices within the company’s mining methods.

Evolving into a near-completely digitised business has taken them far with regards to sustainability – however, plans are afoot to fully digitise in all areas of the business.

And for Diyar, it is very much a case of watch this space.

JSC AK ALTYNALMAS Tel: +77273500200 info@altynalmas.kz www.altynalmas.kz

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 131

HOWDEN BROKING GROUP, APAC

Howden Broking Group’s culture of embracing change and long-term focus has enabled it to pivot, innovate, and adapt to ensure its employees and clients are taken care of during a year of significant change Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki

T

he combined health and socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is creating a multitude of challenges for individuals and businesses alike.

There is no getting around the fact that this year has been a strange time for everyone, and that the challenges and opportunities that have arisen are forcing many to adapt to entirely new ways of thinking and operating.

There are a lot of businesses that are completely changing the way they do things. The way people are using technology and the whole concept of what a workforce looks like is shifting.

The purpose of insurance is to aid clients in their time of need, and times of significant change are when specialist brokers really prove their value.

Many companies are being hit hard by the pandemic.

Unfortunately, not all pandemic-related losses are covered and, on top of that, a hardening market is causing unavoidable increases in insurance premiums.

A key player within the Asian insurance industry, Howden Broking Group is focused on helping its clients across Asia-Pacific to address their immediate challenges, whilst working with insurers to develop the solutions that will protect businesses against the future risks of an everchanging world.

CEOs Goh Chye Huat (Howden Asia), and Paul O’Neill (Howden Specialty APAC), explain how Howden is helping businesses during this current business-altering period.

“We’re working with our clients to find smart ways to mitigate the impact of the challenges they’re facing,”” Chye Huat begins. “We are leveraging our own data and analytical intelligence, and working with clients and insurers, to look at what innovations in product development and delivery are going to help clients adapt to, and thrive in, a post-COVID world.”

The Heart of

INSURANCE 132 | APAC Outlook issue 47

INSURANCE

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 133

HOWDEN BROKING GROUP, APAC

MS First Capital Insurance MS First Capital Insurance Limited (MSFCIL) provides innovative insurance solutions catered to individual, commercial and industrial clients in Singapore, Asia and beyond. We specialise in non-lfe insurance products, with coverage spanning Fire, Engineering, Marine Hull, Marine Cargo, Bond, Professional Indemnity, Motor, Public Liability, Worker’s Compensation, Personal Accident among other Miscellaneous Accident classes.

A sustainable business, built to last Howden’s absolute commitment to independence means it isn’t driven by short-term gains or outside influence. This affords the broker the freedom to support its people in building a sustainable business that delivers long-term value for clients.

SPECIALISTS EVERYWHERE: Howden offers clients seamless access to a global broking network and international specialty markets.

NO LIMITS: Howden’s employees are encouraged to think like owner’s in everything they do and to believe that there are no limits to what they can achieve SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE: Howden strongly believes in building a great company that plays a positive role in protecting and preserving the world in which we live.

134 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Howden established itself in Asia in 2009 when its London-based international property insurance team recognised the need to have on-theground presence closer to its clients in the region. Since then, both Howden’s specialty and retail businesses have grown to represent a significant portion of Howden Group’s revenue, and Asia-Pacific continues to be a key growth region for the company.

“Howden arranges specialist insurance, employee benefits, and risk management solutions for clients across a range of industries. Our regional headquarters is in Singapore and we have offices in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong,” Chye Huat tells us.

“Howden Specialty is the specialty lines wholesale and reinsurance broker,” O’Neill explains further.

“Retail brokers, like Chye Huat’s team at Howden, bring their clients to us when they have a really big or complex risk. Our Specialty APAC hub is also based in Singapore and we have offices in Hong Kong, China, Taipei, South Korea, and Australia.”

Incorporated in Singapore in 1950, Ms First capital Insurance Limited was first known as The Public Insurance Company Limited. It was renamed British American General Insurance Company Limited in 1988, and First Capital Insurance Limited (FCIL) following its acquisition by Hong Leong Group (Malaysia) in 1991. FCIL became a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings in 2002, and was renamed MSFCIL in 2018 upon acquisition by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited (a member of MS&AD).

MSFCIL is currently one of the top-3 non-life insurance companies operating in Singapore. It holds an A (Excellent)/Stable financial rating by A.M. Best Company (USA).

As a member company of the large MS&AD family, MSFCIL is keenly focused on consolidating its position even further as an important player among the non-life insurance companies in Singapore and in the region.

www.msfirstcapital.com.sg A member of

MS First Capital Insurance Limited (MSFCIL) was incorporated in Singapore on 9 December 1950 under the name of The Public Insurance Company Limited. The Company has been writing non-life insurance business for 67 Years now. The Public Insurance Company Limited changed its name to British American General Insurance Company Limited in July 1988 and this name was subsequently changed to First Capital Insurance Limited with effect from 4 July 1991, consequent upon acquisition of the company by Hong Leong group (Malaysia).

MSFCIL is engaged in writing both personal and commercial lines of non-life insurance business across various classes such as Fire, Engineering, Marine Hull, Marine Cargo, Bond, Professional Indemnity, Motor, Public Liability, Worker’s Compensation, Personal Accident and other Miscellaneous Accident classes with the support of its large pool of dedicated agents and all major brokers as well as direct clients.

Corporate Office 6, Raffles Quay, #21-00 Singapore 048580 Tel (65) 6222 2311 Fax (65) 6222 3547 Claims Department 36, Robinson Road, #16-01 City House Singapore 068877 Tel (65) 6507 3848 Fax (65) 6507 3849 www.msfirstcapital.com.sg

A member of MS First Capital Insurance Limited (MSFCIL) was incorporated in Singapore on 9 December 1950 under the name of The Public Insurance Company Limited. The Company has been writing non-life insurance business for 67 Years now. The Public Insurance Company Limited changed its name to British American General Insurance Company Limited in July 1988 and this name was subsequently changed to First Capital Insurance Limited with effect from 4 July 1991, consequent upon acquisition of the company by Hong Leong group (Malaysia).

MSFCIL is engaged in writing both personal and commercial lines of non-life insurance business across various classes such as Fire, Engineering, Marine Hull, Marine Cargo, Bond, Professional Indemnity, Motor, Public Liability, Worker’s Compensation, Personal Accident and other Miscellaneous Accident classes with the support of its large pool of dedicated agents and all major brokers as well as direct clients.

Corporate Office 6, Raffles Quay, #21-00 Singapore 048580 Tel (65) 6222 2311 Fax (65) 6222 3547 Claims Department 36, Robinson Road, #16-01 City House Singapore 068877 Tel (65) 6507 3848 Fax (65) 6507 3849 www.msfirstcapital.com.sg

HOWDEN BROKING GROUP, APAC

Goh Chye Huat, CEO Howden Asia

As a specialist insurance broker, Howden focuses on being a leader in the specialisms and markets in which it operates. For example, it has established itself as a leading Employee Benefits insurance broker in many of its Asia markets.

Further, 2018 saw Howden enter the High-Net-Worth life insurance space with the acquisition of IPG. Now known as IPG Howden, it is a market leader and key player in the development of life insurance-based wealth structuring and transfer planning solutions for High-Net-Worth individuals, and families. IPG Howden operates from Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Malaysia and Zurich, serving clients from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

“Despite the world being somewhat upside down at the moment, it is a time of huge opportunity for us as a business to show the high level of service we provide,” O’Neill says.

“The biggest global insurance brokers are all buying each other and our proposition as the global independent challenger broker is stronger than ever.”

136 | APAC Outlook issue 47

Paul O’Neill, CEO Howden Specialty APAC

PAST TO PRESENT For both Chye Huat and O’Neill, the insurance industry has provided an interesting, innovative, and engaging career that they each look back on proudly.

Chye Huat’s career within the industry exceeds 30 years.

It was after four years that he decided to gain a master’s in finance, and he briefly worked in banking, specialising in structured derivatives. He returned to the insurance sphere soon after however, as he missed the relationship-based nature of broking, and the energy of the innovative and entrepreneurial industry.

O’Neill began his career as a chemical engineer before transitioning to underwriting, via a stint as a risk engineer.

He joined Howden Specialty, in May 2020, to lead the specialty broking business in the APAC region.

“What’s quite unique about insurance broking, is that you’ve got extremely bright, technical people but they’re out building relationships with clients,” O’Neill explains.

“You don’t get that in a lot of industries; you’re either the

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HOWDEN BROKING GROUP, APAC technician locked away in a dark room or the client-facing salesperson. As specialty brokers, we’re both - it’s fun, it’s interesting.”

Howden stands apart from other insurance broking firms because of its people-first culture, underpinned by its independence.

Its single largest shareholder group is employees. For Howden, this creates a completely different kind of working culture in which every employee is encouraged to act as if they are an owner – a mindset that grants each individual more autonomy and accountability for their area.

This factor helps the firm to attract more entrepreneurial talent – a result that consequently provides better, more innovative solutions for clients, and a more engaged, driven workforce on the whole.

“Our employee-ownership model also means we plan for the long-term.

We don’t need to make short-term decisions because of pressure from

shareholders; we are the shareholders, and we make decisions based on what will help us to build a sustainable business,” Chye Huat tells us.

“Howden’s culture is very dynamic, with little bureaucracy,” O’Neill explains further. “The employee-ownership model is part of it, but it runs deeper than that. There’s this sense of empowerment and of there being no limits to what you can achieve.

“It is great to work with bright young people who are eager to develop brilliant ideas and being given the support to run with them.”

And COVID-19 has not hindered these values. From the beginning, the firm has placed its employees and clients first, as O’Neill comments.

“I haven’t known the company outside of COVID-19,” he says. “If the response to the pandemic is anything to go by however, this ethos of putting people first isn’t just corporate speak.

Howden didn’t even think about making redundancies or pay cuts – the

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APAC Outlook issue 47 | 139

HOWDEN BROKING GROUP, APAC Cybercrime is a rising threat that has grown substantially through the last year caused in part by an increase in the use of online platforms.

“Systemic risks like pandemics and cyber-attacks are extremely complicated for the insurance market to respond to with traditional risk transfer products. We have seen this in the case of most business interruption policies not covering clients for pandemic-related losses,” O’Neill says. “We are exploring parametric-based solutions where the policy pays out an agreed amount in response to an event hitting specific parameters, rather than payment being tied to actual financial loss - and other nontraditional products, like structured solutions.”

GROWTH THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS global management team was clear that we’d weather this storm together and all have each other’s back.”

Howden has used the internal social media platform, Workplace, to maintain a strong sense of community, despite offices being closed. The company’s investment in digitisation over recent years meant its businesses around the world were able to switch to remote working almost overnight. Howden’s investment in technology and data is only planned to increase over the coming years and a more flexible approach to working is here to stay.

“I am really excited to move into our new office with our Howden colleagues in March and say goodbye to fixed desks and traditional office working hours, embracing more agile and effective way of working,” O’Neill tells us.

A part of this people-centric approach to tackling the obstacles posed by the coronavirus pandemic was to focus a large effort on employee safety while ensuring the continuity of service to clients.

“When we launched our first ever Global People Survey in May, over 90 percent of employees globally told us that we were both supportive and proactive in our response to the pandemic,” Chye Huat adds.

“What we’ve come to realise is that the pandemic isn’t going away any time soon, so we’re now focusing on the longer-term support with regards to employee mental wellbeing and providing financial aid for those suffering hardship due to the employment and other circumstances of family members.”

In order to tackle obstacles presented by COVID-19, Howden was quick to embed telemedicine (that is the adoption of online healthcare services) as part of its employee healthcare offering in Singapore.

For the Hong Kong market, the firm is ahead of the curve regarding claims innovation and released a claims app – the first of its kind in the market - that has proven invaluable during the coronavirus period due to the necessity of digital access.

140 | APAC Outlook issue 47

In a short period of time, Howden has grown from a collection of small local brokers and specialty teams to a powerful challenger broker in Asia.

“The past five years have really been a period of transformation for us; we’ve achieved compound annual growth of 54 percent, a lot of that has come from acquisitions but we’ve also had a market-leading 12 percent organic growth rate,” Chye Huat tells us.

Howden Speciality’s business growth has not come from acquisitions but from building up global teams based on key specialty lines and positioning these teams in strategic global hubs. O’Neill explains this further.

“Our growth in APAC in recent years has been built on strong foundations over several product lines including international property, marine, and recently, treaty,” he tells us. “As we develop our international hubs globally, we will continue to invest significantly in our specialty products in APAC.” Howden Speciality has recently announced the launch of its new natural resources team based in its headquarters in Singapore. The team will deliver greater specialist expertise to both global and regional energy clients and

INSURANCE

complement the expansion of the company’s sustainable energy team in London.

Of course, this level of growth could not be achieved without partnerships. Howden’s key partners are its insurers.

These strong, transparent relationships between insurers and brokers ensure better products, services, and terms for the firm’s clients.

“The success of our business rests on the quality of our partnerships, and the value we can bring to clients with our expertise and access to global specialty markets.

Our strength comes from the breadth and depth of the partnerships we have with the brokers, carriers and clients we work with across APAC and beyond,” O’Neill explains.

“We have now added the dimension of data and analytics to these partnerships by working with our Insurtech arm, HX,” Chye Huat adds.

“With a more holistic understanding of where we work best together, we are able to focus our efforts in the areas where we can have maximum impact and unlock opportunities to deliver even better products to even more clients.”

As for the future of Howden Broking Group, the firm will continue to explore investment options in individuals and businesses that will help to build further breadth and depth of specialisms in Asia.

“We’ll continue to build out our APAC hub to bring more specialities closer to clients around the region,” O’Neill states. “We are focused on making our distribution channels more accessible, more efficient and more effective for our clients and we will continue to invest in and strengthen resources to deliver this.”

“Given our phenomenal growth story, both in Asia and globally, we are confident that we will continue to attract experienced specialists,” Chye Huat adds, and he ends on a positive note reinforcing the firm’s values.

“Especially with the consolidation that is going on elsewhere, we are hearing from talented, experienced brokers who can see the greater potential for career development in an agile and entrepreneurial-minded company like Howden.”

HOWDEN BROKING GROUP, APAC Tel: (+65) 6258 1919 hello@sg.howdengroup.com www.howdengroup.com

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 141

THE FINAL WORD To round off each issue, we ask our contributing business leaders for their views on the same question

WHAT WILL BE THE BIGGEST TREND IMPACTING YOUR INDUSTRY IN 2021?

Joe Deck CEO, Fuel Chief Tanks “The world is changing faster than ever and in order to succeed, we must change with it. Someone once said the definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting a different result.

“Disaster management, resilience, thinking outside the box, being quick to pivot and change implementation are going to be key in a post COVID world. There is a better way of doing things, and Fuel Chief is on a path to implement it.”

Goh Chye Huat CEO, Howden Asia “Change is constant, but we’ve never known a time quite like this. What is clear is that there is no going ‘back to normal’ after COVID-19. We must all maintain the momentum of accelerated digitisation and smarter working as it both benefits our clients and helps to elevate insurance as an environment that the brightest talent from within and outside the industry is excited to be part of.”

Paul O’Neill CEO, Howden Specialty APAC “Technology, climate change and trade relations were already changing the risk landscape dramatically. Throw a global pandemic into the mix and, in a 142 | APAC Outlook issue 47

lot of ways, it really is back to the drawing board.

“Our job as specialist insurance brokers is to pre-empt changes in the risk landscape and help our clients to get ahead of them. Right now, this really does mean questioning everything and having the willingness and agility to pivot. It’s no good just selling clients insurance products that are available today – those were designed to respond to yesterday’s risks.

“2020 has been a year like no other and, in a lot of ways, has shaken up the insurance industry for good. 2021 really marks the start of a completely new chapter.”

Dylan Webb CEO, Datamine “In 2021 there will be accelerated adoption of digital technology and remote work practices.

“The digital mine will be built with a series of connected solutions, not a single platform. With an open stance to interoperability and a wide range of mining technology, Datamine is well placed to support the digitalisation of the global mining industry.”

Are you a CEO/Director with a company story to tell? Contact APAC Outlook now!

Showing strength and compassion in challenging times...

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

CONSTRUCTION

See page

44 22 SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

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Community SHOWING STRENGTH AND COMPASSION IN CHALLENGING TIMES

CONSTRUCTION

“Recognition can be very simple and ‘on the spot’ in appreciating good efforts – daily, simple interactions between management and staff are important to us. At SCCC we believe in developing and empowering our staff to continuously improve and to grow, to self-develop and to prosper with the company.”

He also reinforces the message about health and safety being the number one priority moving forward, with SCCC’s leadership made accountable to assure the wellbeing of all its employees and visitors to its facilities. From regular formal internal

Having last year marked 50 years in operation, Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

IN FOCUS

PRESERVING WATER IN CAMBODIA One never knows how bad a crisis is going to get, so the first concern for us was to set up our crisis management and emergency response teams. The first priority was to protect the health of our staff and customers, and while we’re just about out of what we call crisis mode, we’re still keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the situation and are now responding to the economic fallout.”

Though Cambodia is a tropical

From celebrating a half century course country, where the monsoon of 2020, this having just season brings large amount of in existence in 2019 to running into recently celebrated the company’s water, the proper management this vital resource is critical. a global pandemic, it has been of an 50th birthday. and extraordinary year in the life of The dry season is long Indeed, for SCCC, the message is requires enough reserves to Siam City Cement Public Company a resolute one – that society can and sustain communities.

CMIC is committed to saving water and communications using digital tools toit Limited (SCCC) and its Group CEO, must continue to operate as best has established specific targets face to face interactions via monthly to reduce water can consumption, Aidan Lynam. to navigate this crisis. town halls and check-ins, regular measured as litres per tonne of feedback is taken and acted upon.

Speaking from a quarantinedcement hotel production. And although this year’s events The communication stream is very room in Bangkok following a visit appear somewhat unprecedented much a two-way dialogue, the comThe main success factors are the pany striving to realise the importance reduction of water withdrawal, to his native Ireland, he sets a very given the global reach of the of assuring that directional and functhe optimisation of water tional objectives are understood the control of positive tone despite the clear consumption, and pandemic, Siam City Cement iswell able by all staff, and then assuring unamwater loss and water-saving obvious challenges that COVID-19 to benefit a degree of biguous clarity on what anyhindsight leader or awareness. To achieve this goal, from “WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS employee is accountable for.

CMIC is also increasing its surface FOR THE LONG TERM AND has brought about through thewater gained throughout its past.

“We have, together, come through reservoir volume by constructing ponds and utilising open quarry pits, which will provide approximately additional 50,000 cubic metres of water harvesting by 2022.

2 | APAC Outlook issue 47

a very traumatic and anxiety-laden period with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lynam adds. “And our staff in all APAC Outlook issue 47 corners of the organisation have proudly risen to the occasion, demonstrating a strong and combined corps d’esprit, showing the

WE OFFER LONG TERM SERVICES AND PRODUCT

IN A SPIRIT OF | UPTAKE 3 MUTUAL PARTNERING AND SHARING OF THE CO-CREATED VALUE”

indomitable pulse of the INSEE heart.”

Every day the firm relies on numerous partnerships with stakeholders up and down the supply chain, a fact which is not lost on Lynam, who explains how such relationships will become even more critical as further expansion at SCCC arrives in the months and years ahead.

Indeed where suppliers are concerned, he says that the very nature of manufacturing and delivering building materials requires best practices in supply chain and logistics excellence over the long term, not least during times when disruption levels are high.

“SCCC supports the philosophy of building long lasting partnerships and relationships with suppliers and

logistics providers,” he adds. “We are in the business for the long term and we offer long term services and product uptake in a spirit of mutual partnering and sharing of the co-created value.

“We prefer to work on a total cost of ownership basis over full product and service lifecycles. We believe in the notion of a ‘fair deal’ and offer transparency and equitable relationships.

“We want to work with suppliers who have similar mindsets and who place value on governance, sustainability and the longer term.

Suppliers who value safety and the health and wellbeing of their own employees and their sub-suppliers in turn normally tend to share our mindsets – this supports mutual brand

and reputation building.”

Indeed, delivering long-term objectives to customers, employees and other stakeholders forms the crux of SCCC’s strategy for the future.

In the more immediate term, the priority remains to emerge as strongly as possible from the current economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uncertainty still remains as to the extent of disruption and economic fallout that will follow over the next couple of years, meaning that the SCCC leadership is focusing staff on what they can control – from internal procedures and processes to innovation and enhanced offerings and service to its customers.

The Group CEO concludes: “Having well managed the immediate and initial crisis, we have our targets set on emerging fitter, more agile and more competitive.

“We are focusing on competitive go-to-market approaches which place the customer firmly at the centre, welded to the never-ending quest for improved internal efficiencies.

Currently, with visibility low for the coming period through 2021 and 2022, SCCC is taking a prudent and yet ambitious approach, assuring a strong balance sheet which renders us, along with a productive leadership and workforce, extremely well positioned for future growth in the Asian markets, both organic and otherwise.”

“We continue to prioritise being a respected and highly valued participant in the Asian growth story, and in delivering superior customer service and product quality”.

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) Tel: +662 797 7000 wecare@siamcitycement.com www.siamcitycement.com

18 | APAC Outlook issue 47

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 19

18 | APAC Outlook issue 47

APAC Outlook issue 47 | 19

harvesting by 2022.

50,000 cubic metres of water provide approximately additional open quarry pits, which will constructing ponds and utilising water reservoir volume by CMIC is also increasing its surface awareness. To achieve this goal, water loss and water-saving consumption, the control of the optimisation of water reduction of water withdrawal, The main success factors are the

combined corps d’esprit, showing the demonstrating a strong and proudly risen to the occasion, corners of the organisation have APAC Outlook issue 47 Lynam adds. “And our staff in all period with the COVID-19 pandemic,” a very traumatic and anxiety-laden “We have, together, come through employee is accountable for. biguous clarity on what any leader or by all staff, and then assuring unamtional objectives are understood well of assuring that directional and funcpany striving to realise the importance much a two-way dialogue, the comThe communication stream is very feedback is taken and acted upon. town halls and check-ins, regular face to face interactions via monthly communications using digital tools to

CO-CREATED VALUE” AND SHARING OF THE MUTUAL PARTNERING 3 | UPTAKE IN A SPIRIT OF

and relationships with suppliers and of building long lasting partnerships “SCCC supports the philosophy levels are high. not least during times when disruption logistics excellence over the long term, best practices in supply chain and delivering building materials requires nature of manufacturing and concerned, he says that the very Indeed where suppliers are arrives in the months and years ahead. critical as further expansion at SCCC relationships will become even more on Lynam, who explains how such supply chain, a fact which is not lost stakeholders up and down the numerous partnerships with Every day the firm relies on indomitable pulse of the INSEE heart.”

mindsets – this supports mutual brand in turn normally tend to share our employees and their sub-suppliers health and wellbeing of their own Suppliers who value safety and the sustainability and the longer term. who place value on governance, who have similar mindsets and “We want to work with suppliers ency and equitable relationships. notion of a ‘fair deal’ and offer transparservice lifecycles. We believe in the ownership basis over full product and “We prefer to work on a total cost of co-created value. mutual partnering and sharing of the and product uptake in a spirit of and we offer long term services are in the business for the long term logistics providers,” he adds. “We

www.siamcitycement.com wecare@siamcitycement.com Tel: +662 797 7000 COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC) SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC

Siam City Cement has told its story.

2 | APAC Outlook issue 47

TIMES COMPASSION IN CHALLENGING SHOWING STRENGTH AND

Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Joshua Mann

by the COVID-19 pandemic compassion for its local communities despite the challenges presented Company Limited (SCCC or INSEE) continues to show strength and Having last year marked 50 years in operation, Siam City Cement Public

Community

economic fallout.” and are now responding to the eyes firmly fixed on the situation crisis mode, we’re still keeping our we’re just about out of what we call staff and customers, and while was to protect the health of our response teams. The first priority management and emergency was to set up our crisis the first concern for us a crisis is going to get, so One never knows how bad

SERVICES AND PRODUCT WE OFFER LONG TERM gained throughout its past.

FOR THE LONG TERM AND “WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS to benefit from a degree of hindsight

has brought about through the obvious challenges that COVID-19 positive tone despite the clear and pandemic, Siam City Cement is able to his native Ireland, he sets a very given the global reach of the room in Bangkok following a visit appear somewhat unprecedented production. And although this year’s events Speaking from a quarantinedcement hotel measured as litres per tonne of Aidan Lynam. to navigate this crisis. to reduce water can consumption, has established specific targets Limited (SCCC) and its Group CEO, must continue to operate as best it committed to saving water and sustain communities.

CMIC is Siam City Cement Public Company a resolute one – that society can and requires enough reserves to extraordinary year in the life of The dry season is long Indeed, for SCCC, the message is and a global pandemic, it has been of an 50th birthday. this vital resource is critical. water, the proper management in existence in 2019 to running into recently celebrated the company’s season brings large amount of country, where the monsoon of 2020, this having just From celebrating a half century course

service and product quality”. and in delivering superior customer participant in the Asian growth story, a respected and highly valued “We continue to prioritise being both organic and otherwise.” for future growth in the Asian markets, workforce, extremely well positioned with a productive leadership and balance sheet which renders us, along ambitious approach, assuring a strong SCCC is taking a prudent and yet coming period through 2021 and 2022, Currently, with visibility low for the for improved internal efficiencies. welded to the never-ending quest the customer firmly at the centre, go-to-market approaches which place “We are focusing on competitive competitive. emerging fitter, more agile and more initial crisis, we have our targets set on well managed the immediate and The Group CEO concludes: “Having and service to its customers. innovation and enhanced offerings internal procedures and processes to on what they can control – from SCCC leadership is focusing staff couple of years, meaning that the fallout that will follow over the next extent of disruption and economic Uncertainty still remains as to the pandemic. shock caused by the COVID-19 as possible from the current economic priority remains to emerge as strongly In the more immediate term, the of SCCC’s strategy for the future. and other stakeholders forms the crux objectives to customers, employees Indeed, delivering long-term and reputation building.”

ASteward ofOur thebi-monthly magazine APAC Outlook is essential reading for Now, why not tell yours?

Though Cambodia is a tropical

CAMBODIA WATER IN PRESERVING

IN FOCUS

facilities. From regular formal internal of all its employees and visitors to its accountable to assure the wellbeing ward, with SCCC’s leadership made number one priority moving forabout health and safety being the He also reinforces the message the company.” to self-develop and to prosper with to continuously improve and to grow, developing and empowering our staff important to us. At SCCC we believe in between management and staff are efforts – daily, simple interactions and ‘on the spot’ in appreciating good “Recognition can be very simple

business executives wanting to keep up with the latest in global news and trends affecting Asia Pacific businesses across all industries.

SIAM CITY CEMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED (SCCC)

CONSTRUCTION

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I s s u e 47

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