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| Worachak International Managing Director Hidetoshi Kan |
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Bigger and better is still to come for Thailand’s construction industry, according to Worachak International Co. (WIC), the domestic retailer and maintainer of Mitsubishi elevators and escalators in the country.
Worachak International should know. The company has been very busy with high-profile projects that include the Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit and the new Suvarnabhumi airport.
‘‘In the near future, I believe the number of units that WIC sells will increase. Thailand has a present demand of 2,000 elevators with a population of about 60 million. Japan has twice the population
with demand of about 20,000. As you can see, in Thailand, demand is insufficient for the population.
For Worachak and Mitsubishi Elevators, this means we have room to grow,’’ says Managing Director Hidetoshi Kan.
Since the 1997 Asian currency crisis, WIC’s secured units have skyrocketed from 300 units to 600 units last year. In 2005, WIC expects to sell more than 600 units, again grabbing for the fifth straight year the largest market share of over 30 percent.
With the Suvarnabhumi airport project requiring more than 100 escalators and BTS Skytrain and railway extensions on the negotiating table, the company’s market position looks very secure.
For Kan, WIC has maintained its strong position because of the quality of Mitsubishi’s products and the ideal location of Mitsubishi factories.
‘About half of our customers are repeat customers. Many architects and contractors trust the Mitsubishi name. Mitsubishi is different from its competitors as we have a local factory, whereas the others are based in other countries’
‘‘About half of our customers are repeat customers. Many architects and contractors trust the Mitsubishi
name. Mitsubishi is different from its competitors as we have a local factory, whereas the others are based in other countries. This quickens our delivery time, which is very important to our clients,’’ he explains.
For now, Kan is highly content with the performance of WIC. In the future, he wants to bring together WIC and Mitsubishi Electric much closer and see the two companies reach higher levels.
www.wic.co.th |