Thailand's agricultural conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) plans to kick off construction of a 15-billion-baht healthcare and medical centre next year and expects to roll out commercial services in 2021.
The 50-rai facility marks an entirely new business venture for the already diversified company that hopes to promote Thailand as an international medical hub.
CP set up a subsidiary, CP Medical Centre Co, to run the medical centre operating unit, which owned by CP entirely.
"We are in talks with several international foundations to join CP in the healthcare and medical centre venture," said a source close to the matter who requested anonymity.
Upon securing foreign investors, CP will be the major shareholder with at least a 51% stake, while the remaining shares are to be sold to partners and investors in the venture.
The centre, to be built at Bang Na-Trat Road KM6, is divided into three zones: an R&D unit, a medical teaching institute and a hospital.
The R&D centre will specialise in developing biotechnology specially made for the Thai market. The teaching institute will offer advanced facilities for recent graduates, which CP hopes will compete with foreign medical universities. The hospital will specialise in the treatment of specific diseases, with a focus on Asian and Thai patients.
"We're not quite a non-profit organisation," the source said. "We need to add value to our organisation and we plan to be listed in the stock exchange market, either in [Thailand] or in a foreign country."
According to the source, CP chose to venture into the medical business because the company wants to develop and improve the healthcare and medical services for Thai people and support the government's policy of promoting the nation as a hub for healthcare and medical services. The five-year project will cost an estimated 15 billion baht.
CP chief executive Suphachai Chearavanont says this month the group expects to solidify a bid for a 50-year concession to build, transfer and operate a high-speed train project worth 200 billion baht, linking three airports in Bangkok. This project marks another new direction for the company.
Mr Suphachai has also brushed aside criticism of the group's ability to operate high-speed trains. "How can chicken vendors make phone calls?" he said. "If chicken vendors can make phone calls, we can make high-speed trains."
CP did not initially plan to invest in the high-speed train, he said. But as the government planned for this large-scale infrastructure project, it began seeking private-sector involvement, enticing CP to place a bid.
Mr Suphachai says private companies' involvement in the large-scale infrastructure project will support the government's efforts to capture a second wave of foreign investment in its Eastern Economic Corridor development plan.
"We have to make the project feasible," he said in response to criticisms that the plan may be impractical, adding that if CP loses the bid, he has no objection to another capable developer taking the reins.
According to another CP source, the group contacted Thai and foreign commercial banks for assistance to finance the 200-billion-baht project. If CP wins the bid to build the rail within five years, at least 120 billion baht of funding would come from the banking sector.
