February 7, 2007

Thailand's Prantalay Marketing seeks partner to tap China market

Prantalay Marketing the marketing arm of Union Frozen Products, a leading seafood exporter in Thailand is seeking a trading partner in China to access the Chinese market for its ready-to-eat seafood products.

The company's chief marketing and operation officer Anurat Khokasai told The Nation last week, the firm was targeting new markets to boost export income.

The company is looking beyond its traditional markets in the United States, the European Union and Japan, to focus in other regions such as Saudi Arabia, where it inked an agreement last week to establish its first joint-venture firm for selling its products in the Middle East.

With its increasing affluence and seafood consumption, China represents a market with good potential, particularly in trading cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, Anurat said.

However, the company is keeping the names of its potential partners in China under wraps.

Prantalay would negotiate in China for a business alliance and conduct a market survey by the end of March.

However, the company would still focus on the Thai market to ensure sustainable growth. It is planning to increase domestic sales to 30 percent in the next five years.

About 90 percent of the firm's income has previously come from exports.

Prantalay achieved sales revenue of about THB900 million (US$26.2 million) last year and hopes to achieve sales of THB1 billion (US$29.1 million) this year.