Bangkok Post reported that Siam Cement Group will expand its international retail building materials network with plans to open the first Home Mart store in ASEAN in 2011.

Mr Kajohndet Sangsuban president of SCG Distribution said that the Philippines offers the highest potential for Home Mart's format in Southeast Asia, given the country's modern retail law which enables foreign players to build their presence there.

He said that Thailand's top industrial conglomerate has also studied opportunities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Indonesia, as part of SCG's strategy to become a leading player in ASEAN. He added that "If we want to become the regional leader, we should have our retail network established in addition to manufacturing facilities the group has set up in other ASEAN countries."

Mr Pichit Maipoom president of SCG Building Materials said that the group has production facilities for ceramics, roofing products and concrete in the Philippines, as well as gypsum, fibre cement and ceramics plants in Indonesia.

Mr Pichit said that SCG aims to turn 65 existing Home Mart branches into Home Solution centers within five years, including five outlets this year. He added that "The Bang Na store has seen sales rise by almost three times after one year of operations. We expect the Nakhon Pathom store to perform the same."

He said that Nakhon Pathom provides bright prospects for building material sales with 3,000 new houses built every year in addition to the existing 300,000 existing houses that might require renovation.

Mr Kajohndet said that the Nakhon Pathom outlet ranked among the top 10 Home Mart stores in terms of sales, with average spending of THB 8,000 per bill as compare with the network's average of THB 3,000 to THB 4,000.

Mr Pravart Pruksangmul MD of Home Solution Nakhon Pathom said that he was keen to work with SCG to open Home Mart stores in neighboring countries, especially Burma.

(Sourced from www.bangkokpost.com)