ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is a huge and hot topic right now, and Thailand is preparing itself to be the center and propeller of it by 2015. Two thirds of our revenue comes from system integration work (the rest being distribution) within the region, especially in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. It definitely helps having long-standing, cross-border relationships. For example, Gallagher Group, one of our technology partners, introduced us to a building project in Cambodia, as it has had close ties with one of the decision makers for almost two decades (since his school days); the entire project was worth US$150 million, almost the same as another embassy project we had in that country. We are also working closely with a number of multinational mechanical and electrical companies active throughout the region.
In Thailand, we are seeing a rapid transition from employing guards or guarding services to deploying electronic security systems, due to drastic rises in minimum wages (from an average of around $600 per bilingual guard per month to $835). A timely example would be the ongoing metro system expansions (purple, red and blue lines); the construction sites now rely more on security electronics for 24/7 monitoring than posting guards. Other growing verticals include health care, hotels, correctional facilities and government buildings such as the parliament and stock exchange.