Year 2010
October
Alstom says Asian revenue to top Europe
By NALIN VIBOONCHART
Alstom (Thailand) expects Asia will exceed Europe in revenue contribution in three to four years due to the vast opportunities in transportation and power plant businesses in many countries.
Nazir Rizk, president of the local unit of the France-based provider of power generation and rail transport systems, said last week that many Asian countries, particularly China, India, Thailand and Vietnam, were aggressively developing transportation and power infrastructure.
As Alstom is an expert in these fields, it sees a lot of potential to provide its services in the Asian region. Its focus has shifted to the region instead of Europe, where the market is declining.
Last year, Asia contributed 15 per cent of Alstom's revenue of 23 billion (Bt962 billion), he said.
According to Alstom's website, its orders from 2009-2010 in the power and transport businesses in Europe accounted for 62 per cent, while that of Asia-Pacific was 13 per cent, which was equal to North America.
Rizk said China and Thailand were expanding their power and transport businesses, and Alstom wants to play a role in both industries in the countries. Thailand is building a mass rapid transit system. Six lines will be constructed in Greater Bangkok. Alstom aims to win the bidding for the electric and mechanical (E&M) works for some routes.
E&M work covers rolling stock, signalling, power supply, ticketing, communications and control system. The E&M work for those six routes adds up to Bt83.8 billion.
In the power-generation industry, Alstom hopes to work with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and its client Gulf JP. It is also eyeing hydropower plant projects in Laos, as many power producers in Thailand such as Electricity Generating and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding are investing in them.
In Thailand, about half of Alstom's revenue comes from the power business, followed by transport with 30 per cent and transmission with 20 per cent. Alstom Thailand employs about 1,000 Thais. If it can win some of the transport and power projects, it will hire more Thai engineers, he added.
Copyright 2010 Nation Multimedia GroupAll Rights Reserved
By The Nation (Thailand)
October 11, 2010
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