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Table of Contents 1. The Company - Introduction 3 2. The Product 4 3. Core Competencies of Thailand 5 ♦ Country Profiles 5 ♦ Demographic Factors 6 ♦ Political Scenario 9 ♦ Economic & Financial Conditions 12 ♦ Legal & Bureaucratic Environment 15 ♦ Competitive Environment 16 ♦ Effects of Porters’s Diamond four factors 17 ♦ Hofstede’s Dimension Evaluation 19 Power Distance (PDI) 19 Individualism(IDV) 20 Masculinity / Femininity (MAS) 20 Uncertainty avoidance(UAI) 20 Long term orientation(LTO) 21 ♦ Labor Climate 21 4. Infrastructures Issues 23 5. Diamonds of Competitiveness for Thailand and Malaysia 25 6. Technology and CRM Implications 26 7. Marketing Strategies 30 ♦ Size of Market 30 ♦ Socioculture Acceptance of Product 32 ♦ Method for Marketing & Distributions 32 8. Conclusion 33 References 34

1. The Company - Introduction

Picture 1 ICT Facilities
Integrated Container Terminal (Thailand) Pte (ICT) was incorporated in 1st February 2011 with an authorized and paid up capital of Thai Baht 10 million. The company’s nature of business is container storage, maintenance and repair of containers.
ICT (Thai) is a subsidiary of Integrated Container Terminal (M) Sdn Bhd, located in Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia. The company was established on the 6th February 2002 and currently is one of the main service providers for container storage in Malaysia’s port.

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Picture 2 ICT Container Yard
Based on good relationship, ICT (M) Sdn Bhd has secured contracts with 25 shipping lines in PTP. This relationship has been continuously done by ICT (Thai) with these reputable shipping companies and as a result, ICT(Thai) has entered into an agreement with 5 reputable shipping companies within less than a year in operation namely; Malaysian Shipping Corp Bhd (MISC), American President Line (APL), MAERSK Line, Hanjing Shipping and K-Line. More contracts are expected to be signed in the years to come. 2. The Product

The focus of the company is on container related services in order to capture the local market needs. Among the services are: i. Storage – storage of empty containers either for empty repositioned or export. ii. Cleaning – Washing both for normal washing and chemical cleanings. iii. M&R – maintenance and repairs for repainting, dent repair, hole repair, floorboard replacement, etc. iv. Depot Operations – Lift on, Lift off (LOLO) of containers from the chassis of a prime mover and in the yard. v. 4
Container Haulage – Container Haulage Operations for repo empties and laden. vi. Logistic Services – Freight Forwarding, Tug and Barges, Ship and Air Freighting, Oil and Gas Logistic Support, Warehousing, Transportation, Project Cargo Management, Port and Supply Base Operations. 3. Core Competencies of Thailand
♦ Country Profiles
Thailand or also known as Siam is one of the countries under the Association of Southeast Asean Nations(ASEAN) which practices the Constitutional Monarchy with the Prime Minister leading the government and the King as the Head of State. With a total import of RM10.05billion from Malaysia in 1st Quarter 2012, Thailand boast to be the one of the top 10 destinations for the Malaysian manufacturers. ♦ Geography

Picture 3 Thailand on the map
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Location:
Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma.
Geographic Coordinates:
15.00N, 100.00E
Area:
513,890 sq km in total
Climate :
Tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid
Natural Hazards:
Land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts
Environment(Current Issues):
Air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting
♦ Demographic Factors
Population:
67,091,089 (July 2012 est.)

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Ethnic :

Chart 1 Ethinicity Percentage
For the last hundred years, Thai governments have consistently stressed the homogeneity of the peoples of Thailand. Unlike its Southeast Asian neighbors, modern Thailand has never had an official discourse on multiculturalism. The predominant government policy towards cultural diversity has been one of assimilation. The result has been that both domestically and internationally, Thailand is perceived as Southeast Asia's most ethnically homogeneous nation. Yet Thailand has always been an ethnically diverse place, and in recent years has experienced a resurgence in expressions of ethnic culture and identity.
Cultural diversity in Thailand is generally represented by the Thai government in regional terms. Thailand is officially divided into central Thailand, northern Thailand, northeastern Thailand, and southern Thailand. Among the peoples of these four regions there is great linguistic and cultural diversity, but the official rhetoric has been that they are all "Thai"-where "Thai" is an ethnically and culturally loaded term.

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Religion :

Chart 2 Religion Percentage
Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand and is officially the religion of about 94.6% of its people. However, the true figure lies closer to 85%, Muslims are some 4.6%, Christian 0.70% and 0.1% other religions including Hinduism, especially among immigrants. In addition to Malay and Yawi speaking Thais and other southerners who are Muslim, the Cham of Cambodia in recent years began a large scale influx into Thailand. The government permits religious diversity, and other major religions are represented, though there is much social tension, especially in the South. Spirit worship and animism are widely practiced.
The law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice; however, it does not register new religious groups that have not been accepted into one of the existing religious governing bodies on doctrinal or other grounds. In practice, unregistered religious organizations operate freely, and the government's practice of not recognizing any new religious groups does not restrict the activities of unregistered religious groups. The government officially limits the number of foreign missionaries that may work in the country, although unregistered missionaries are present in large numbers and are allowed to live and work freely. There have been no widespread reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. However, in the far southern border provinces, continued separatist violence has resulted in mistrust in relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities.
Major cities – population:
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BANGKOK (capital) 6.902 million (2009)
Sex ratio:
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
Languages:
Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects
♦ Political Scenario
The politics of Thailand are currently conducted within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state.
Thai Kingdoms and late Kingdom of Siam were under absolute rule of the kings. However, after the 'democratic revolution' in 1932, led by westernized bureaucrats and traditional-oriented military, the country officially became under a constitutional monarchy with a prime minister as the head of government. The first written constitution was issued. Yet the politics became the arena of fighting factions among old and new elites, bureaucrats, and generals. Coups happened from time to time, often bringing the country under the rule of yet another junta. To date Thailand has had seventeen charters and constitutions, reflecting a high degree of political instability. After successful coups, military regimes have abrogated existing constitutions and promulgated interim charters. Negotiation among politicians, men of influence and generals has become the prime factor for restoration of temporary political stability.
The entire economy of Thailand collapsed from the “1997 Asian Financial Crisis” and because of Thailand had only USD2,850 billion international reserves as of 2nd July 1997, the Thai Government had to take a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Overall, Thailand received USD17.2 billion of bilateral and multilateral assistance.
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The crisis also had both direct and indirect impact upon Thai politics. The direct impact was that General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the then Prime Minister of the Kingdom, resigned on 6 November 1997, after he had encountered a great deal of pressure, and was succeeded by the then leader of the Opposition, Mr. Chuan Leekpai. The Chuan Leekpai Government, in power from November 1997 to February 2001, tried to conduct a great deal of economic reform based upon the IMF-guided philosophy of neoliberal capitalism. His Government pursued very strict fiscal and financial policies, e.g. keeping a high interest rate while cutting government spending. In addition to this, the Chuan Leekpai Government issued 11 laws which the Government referred to as "bitter medicines", while the critics called them the "the 11 nation-selling laws". The Thai economy at least got better and in 1999, Thailand had a positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first time since the crisis. Additionally, there was a loan from the Miyazawa Plan coming in to urge the economy in 1999 and the issues of "whether or not" and "to what extent" the Chuan Leekpai Government did really "help" recover the Thai economy, therefore, remains controversial.
The most important indirect impact of the financial crisis upon Thai politics was the rise of Thaksin. A Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra's from Thai Rak Thai Party won a landslide victory over Chuan Leekpai's of Democrat Party in the 2001 (February) general election largely due to the failure of the previous government in recovering the country's economy. Although weak export demand held the GDP growth rate to 2.2 percent in his first year of administration, Thaksin Government did very well in 2002 to 2004 with the growth rates of 5.3% in 2002, 7.1% in 2003 and for 2004 a 6.3%. His set of policies was later called “Thaksinomics” and under his administration, Thailand could pay off all of the IMF's debts by July 2003 which is two years ahead of the schedule.
The success of his economic policies was one of the reasons why his party won another victory over the Democrat Party in the Thailand 2005 general election. However, his second term of administration was not so smooth and not so successful as his first term and on 26 December 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami took place, and had an impact over the first quarter (Q1) of the Thai GDP in 2005. The “Yellow Shirts” phenomenon, a coalition of protesters against Thaksin, also began to emerge in 2005 and continue until 2006, which finally force Thaksin to dissolved the parliament and called for a general election. The 2006 general election was organized in April, but was boycotted by the main opposition parties and Thaksin's party won again; however later the election was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court and the new 2006 general election was scheduled for October 2006, but was canceled because on 19 September 2006, a group of soldiers calling themselves the “Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy” which led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin had organized a coup ousting Thaksin while he was in New York, preparing for a speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations.
After the coup, once again, the economy of Thailand suffered from its politics. From the last quarter (Q4) of the year 2006 through the year 2007, Thailand was under the military junta regime led by General Surayud Chulanont, who was appointed as the Prime Minister in October 2006. On 23 December 2007, the military Government held the 2007 general election and the pro-Thaksin, Peoples’s Power Party led by Mr. Samak Sundaravej had won a landslide victory over Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva's of Democrat Party - which is usually recognized as Thaksin's 3rd victory in the country's general election.
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However, under the People's Power Party, the country fell into political turmoil and this was combined with an impact from the United State (US) financial institution crisis in the last two quarters of year 2008 and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) or the “Yellow Shirts” reconvened in March 2008. Things began to get worse when the “Yellow Shirts” occupied the Government House of Thailand in August 2008 and on 9 September 2008 the Constitutional Court delivered a decision disqualifying Samak Sundaravej as prime minister. Then on 18 September 2008, Mr. Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law succeeded Samak as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom. In US, the financial institution crisis hit its peak while the “Yellow Shirts” were still in the Government House protesting against appointment of Mr. Somchai Wongsawat as prime minister. As a result the Thai GDP growth rate in 2008 falling to 2.5%.
On 2 December 2008, the Thai Constitutional Court had made a decision on dissolving the People's Power Party, which also meant ousting Mr. Somchai from his prime ministership. By the end of 2008, the coalition government which led by Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva's of Democrat Party was formed. Legality of the Abhisit government has been questioned as it was allegedly formed by the military in the military camp and as a result, the Government came under pressure from not only a negative impact from the US crisis but also the assemble of “Red Shirts” - who denied Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva's prime ministership and called for a fresh election to be held as soon as possible. However, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected the call until he decided to dissolve the parliament for a fresh election in May 2011.
The current Thailand Prime Minister is Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's youngest sister of the pro-Thaksin; Pheu Thai Party and as Thailand’s first female prime minister after winning in July 2011 elections. The present Cabinet has been active since the 9 August 2011, when its members were sworn in by the King. The Cabinet is made up of five parties that form the governing coalition:Pheu Thai Party, Chartthaipattana Party, Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party, Phalang Chorn Party and the independent. The Cabinet comprises: 21 Ministers of State, 5 Deputy Prime Ministers and 12 Deputy Ministers. Party | Parties Leader | Previous seats | Changes | Current seats | ‡ Pheu Thai Party | Yingluck Shinawatra | 189 | (+76) | 265 | Democrat Party | Abhisit Vejjajiva | 172 | (-13) | 159 | Bhumjaithai Party | Chaovarat Chanweerakul | 32 | (+2) | 34 | ‡ Chartthaipattana Party | Chumpol Silpa-archa | 25 | (-6) | 19 | ‡ Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party | Dr. Wannarat Channukul | 9 | (-2) | 7 | ‡ Phalang Chon Party | Chao Maneewong | - | (+7) | 7 | Rak Thailand Party | Chuwit Kamolvisi | - | (+4 | 4 | 11
Matubhum Party | Sonthi Boonyaratglin | 3 | (-1) | 2 | Mahachon Party | Apirat Sirinawin | - | (+1) | 1 | Rak Santi Party | Thawil Surachejpong | - | (+1) | 1 | New Democracy Party | Wimon Saramano | - | (+1) | 1 | Total | | | | 500 |
Table 1 Thailand Parties and the Leaders
‡ Coalition partners
No sooner had Yingluck come into office than she found that some parts of the country had already been flooded; from 25 July 2011 to 16 January 2012, Thailand confronted historic flood covering 65 out of the Kingdom's 77 provinces. In 2012, Thailand was in a recovery period from 2011 historic flood. The Yingluck Government has planned to develop the entire infrastructure of the Kingdom - ranging from the long-term water management system to logistics. The Thai GDP is expected to grow in the range of 5.5% - 6.0% for 2012. The Eurozone Crisis is reported to harm the Thai economic growth in 2012 as it has badly affected the country's export both directly and indirectly. In the first to the third quarters of 2012 (Q1-Q3/ 2012), the country's GDP growth rate has already gone up to 0.4 percent (YoY), 4.4 percent (YoY), and 3.0 percent (YoY), respectively.
♦ Economic & Financial Conditions

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Figure 1 Total Imports and Exports for Thailand
The Economy of Thailand is a newly industrialized economy. In the year 2012, according to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, Thailand had a GDP at current market prices of THB11.363 trillion (USD365 billion). In 2012, the Thai economy grew by 6.4 percent, with the headline inflation rate of 3.0 percent and the current account surplus of 0.7 percent of the country's GDP. In 2013, the Thai economy is expected to grow in the range of 4.5-5.5 percent.
The industrial and the service sectors serve as the two main sectors in the Thai gross domestic product, with the former accounting for 39 percent thereof. Albeit often seen as an agricultural country, Thailand has an agricultural sector which shares only 8.6 percent of the GDP – lower than the trading sector and the logistics & communication sector which account for 13.5 percent and 9.6 percent of the GDP respectively. The construction & mining sector adds 4.3 percent to the country’s gross domestic product. In addition to this, other service sectors - which include the financial, the educational, the hotel & restaurant sectors etc. - account for 25 percent of the country's GDP. The Telecommunications in Thailand as well as new types of Services trade are emerging at the center for the industrial expansions and economic competitiveness for the economy of Thailand.
Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia. However, its per capita GDP in 2012 remains very low at USD5,382. In Southeast Asia, the Kingdom ranks midway in terms of its per capita GDP, after Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia. As of 4 January 2013, Thailand holds USD180.9 billion reserve money and international reserves- which ranks 2nd in Southeast Asia, after Singapore. With regard to the volume of external trade, Thailand also ranks 2nd in Southeast Asia, after Singapore.
Concerning the social and development indicators, Thailand is recognized by the World Bank as “one of the great development success stories”. It is now an upper-middle income country, despite a low per capita gross national income (GNI) of USD4,451 and a bad 103rd rank in the Human Development Index (HDI). Within 22 years, the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line decreased dramatically from 42.2 in 1988 to 7.8 in 2010. As of the fourth quarter of the year 2012 (Q4/ 2012), its unemployment rate is 0.5 percent, making Thailand the country with the third lowest unemployment rate in the world – only after Monaco and Qatar. Recently, according to the authority, the headline inflation rate as of Q4/ 2012 remains controllable at 3.2 percent with the policy interest rate of 2.75 percent.
After recovering from the "Asian Crisis" of 1997-1998, the Thai economy took off again. From 2002-2006, Thailand's growth averaged at 5.6%.
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As such, Thailand has been one of the great development success stories, with sustained strong growth and impressive poverty reduction. In the decade that ended in 1995, the Thai economy was one of the world's fastest growing at an average rate of 8-9% per year. After recovering from the Asian Crisis of 1997-1998, the Thai economy took off again, with growth averaging about 5% per year in the period 2002-2007. Primarily due to the high rates of economic growth, poverty has been falling steadily since the late 1980s. Over the last decade, poverty has been reduced from its recent peak of 21% (a result of the 1997 crisis) to about 8% in 2009. Poverty in Thailand is primarily a rural phenomenon, with 88% of the country's 5.4 million poor living in rural areas.

Table 4 Thailand GDP based on Real Growth Rate

Thailand enjoyed being the 24th country having good Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounting of USD 609.8 billion, higher than Malaysia. This has been supported by its well-developed infrastructure, a free-enterprise economy, pro-investment policies as well as the strong export industries. The main contributors of its economy are mostly from the machineries and electronic components, agricultural commodities, and jewelry which have encountered half of the GDP. During the economic recession in year 2008-2009, Thailand’s economy has only able to achieve a GDP of 2.3%, however the economy has rebounced back to its state in year 2010 by scoring 7.8%, which its fastest pace since year 1995. Nevertheless, the economy then was shocked by the heavy flooding in year 2011 which has tremendously affected the GDP to be at only 0.1% per year.
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However, benefits of Thailand's economic success have not been shared equally, with some regions - particularly, the North and Northeast which lagging behind the rest of the country in terms of poverty reduction. Furthermore, in 2010, Thailand's economic growth slowed because of global economic conditions and political uncertainty. However, Thailand's economic activity is gradually returning to normal, with quarterly economic growth rates now closer to the levels often seen before the global financial crisis began in 2008. The GDP growth forecast for Thailand is at 4.5% in 2012 and 5.0% in 2013.

Chart 3 Thailand Historical Account Balance
The financial institutions' deposit balance total was Bht14.6165 trillion at the end of November, 2012 (up 12.1% compared to the same month in the previous year), and the lending total Bht13.881 trillion (up 15.7%, similarly).
Bank of Thailand implemented Basel III, the new BIS standards for capital adequacy, from January 1. In summary, the financial crisis that occurred overseas was brought about by the fluidity of the financial institution systems in that, while relying on capital input from large investors, industries expanded beyond capacity. BOT Deputy Governor, Mr. Krirk Vanikkul, explained that, by expanding a capital base linked to quality, Thai banks’ risk management would be strengthened, and that the adoption of the new international standards would enhance banking capacity.
♦ Legal & Bureaucratic Environment
The laws in Thailand are pretty nationalistic. In the vast majority of cases, the company must be "majority owned" by Thais, in terms of shareholders. This means that the company can be no more that 49% foreign owned. Sometimes, it is a maximum of 39% foreign ownership, for practical reasons. In most cases it's 49% foreign owned.
However, control of a company, its money, property, decisions, etc., is not necessarily lost by not having "majority ownership". Therefore, as to preserve full control of the company, the following measures are considered for adoption: a) Appointment of sole Managing Director (Malaysian) b) 15
To have sole signatory authority -- the bylaws / Articles of Incorporation state that all decisions must be signed by this Managing Director c) Splitting of stocks between "ordinary" and "preference" shares whereby the "ordinary" shares each have 2 times (or more) the voting power of the "preference" shares (preferred for dividend payments, not for voting). d) The foreign Managing Director be the largest shareholder, and the rest of the shares can be split evenly or diversified among other interests . e) Thai shareholders to sign away their shares in an undated share transfer agreement right after setting up the company.
♦ Competitive Environment
In microeconomics, it is often mentioned as how firms position themselves in the industry and there are two types of competitive advantage. First, lower cost or low-cost. Pursue as a strategy in order to compete with each other or ability of a firm to produce a given output using fewer input than competitor, therefore firms can sell comparable products but at cheaper prices. Second, differentiation is the ability to achieve higher revenues per unit. Therefore, the firm is able to charge higher prices. These two types of competitive advantage renders the firm with higher productivity.
In macroeconomics perspective, it is define as level of productivity of an economy. In which can be determined by the setoff institutions, policies and factors. Productivity determines the rates of return obtained by investments in an economy. The nations’s productivity is a combination set of the nation’s firms’ productivity. In other words, in analyzing a country’s attributes, we need to check whether the nation is supportive for its local firms.
The nation’s global competitiveness can be determined by these factors called ‘Porter’s Diamond Model of Competitive Advantage’:- a. Firm Strategy, structure and rivalry b. Demand conditions c. Related and supporting d. Industries and e. Factors conditions.
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♦ Effects of Porters’s Diamond four factors

Chart 4 Porter's Diamond Four Factors
i. Firm strategy, structure and rivalry
Firms are created, organized, managed and the nature of domestic rivalry thorough these context as goals, strategies and ways of organizing differ extensively among countries. Thereby, the ultimate prospects for international success is a results from good match between these choices and sources of competitive advantage plus the pattern of home competition.
There is no guarantee of success that firm that implement this as there are no universal strategy as it depends on the context of time, situation and resources. This is because different countries has different context. However, this situation will become similar through globalization i.e Subprime Crisis that effect global economy in 2009. As such, the aim is similar, how to counter the crisis. In this case profit or GDP growth rates are use to access the economic outcome on how good the firm and nations strategy is implemented.
Firms also uses the strategies that facilitate investments on physical resources such as plants and equipments to suits a nation’s long-term competitiveness. Furthermore, industry structure varies among nation as it depends on the integration between nation’s social, economic and political situation.
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One of the most important factors according to Porter for nation’s competitiveness is the domestic rivalry. It is because it creates pressure for firm to improve and be innovative. Additionally, a strong local competition would pressure the firm to sell abroad in order to grow. It also strengthen the ability of the nation’s firm when competing abroad. However, this would only happen if the industries have sufficient high profitability and high expected return otherwise the competition would drive down the price and profit and unattractive for new entrant to start their business. Meaning to say, a vibrant domestic rivalry would be perform better in contributing nation competitiveness than the industry with dull competition. ii. Demand conditions
Home demand conditions influences the economic scale, bestow static efficiencies and also vital for the rate and character of upgrading and innovation by a nations’s firm. The bigger the size of domestic demand the market dimension are most likely to be diverse, which will encourage a nation’s firm to do experiments of their product which result in higher rates of innovation. This also encourages more productivity and innovation, which are the source of competitiveness.
Beside home demand or quantity demand, other factors that are also vital for creating a sustainable competitive advantage is quality demand or sophisticated buyers. It will push the firm to upgrade their products to meet the preferences which result in product innovation as they are more sensitive for a nations firm. In order to gain competitive advantages over foreign competitors, nations firm need to understand these vital point.
Home market will be less important in globalization as either quality or quantity of home demand will be nullified by transport and communication technologies. Example, small nations like Singapore or Taiwan is more likely to attain more and faster economic development than bigger countries. Which Porter call “Selective Factor Disadvantage” where when one nation is lacking in one comparative factor they will try to find a replacement to offsets the weakness.
The size, growth rate and sophisticated home demand determine a nation’s competitiveness. Size will help nations firm to achieve economic scale and static efficiencies. Growth will stimulates a nation’s firm to upgrade their product and process innovation. Hence, representative for home demand would be GDP, GDP growth, GDP per capita, internet users and adult literacy. iii. Related and supporting industries
Presence for related and supporting industries creates advantages in the value-chain activity. If supplier industries are related they could provide the efficient, early, rapid and preferential access to the most cost effective inputs upgrading. Also by sharing activities, industries related could increase the information flow and technical interchange. Presence of internationally competitive related and supporting industries is essential for a sustainable competitive advantage of a nation.
Beside Porter, Paul Krugman emphasized the role external economies by saying that if a firm is located near to each other, it will result in cluster firms. Advantages of cluster firms are support and enhanced the ability of specialized suppliers and also allow labor market pooling and help foster knowledge spillovers. In the end, the competitiveness in industries will be enhanced.
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Regional and national innovation emphasized more on knowledge competency. Knowledge sharing within the region is influence by the capability of transport and communication technologies available. Knowledge and capability is easier to be shared within the region rather than between the region. Another way to access the effectiveness of the national innovation system are the growth of industrial outputs, labors as well as the process of innovation and productivity.
Four determinants to access nations performance are industrial growth rates, labor productivity, local supplier quantity and number of supplier estates. iv. Factor conditions (factors of production)
If a nation’s firms possess low-cost or uniquely high-quality factors of the particular types that are significant to competition in a particular industry, they gain competitive advantage.
The factors can be either physical or human resources.
♦ Hofstede’s Dimension Evaluation

Figure 2 Hofstede's Dimension Evaluation Result
Power Distance (PDI)
This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.
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Thailand scores 64 on PDI index, slightly lower than the average Asian countries (71). It is a society in which inequalities are accepted; a strict chain of command and protocol are observed. Each rank has its privileges and employees show loyalty, respect and deference for their superiors in return for protection and guidance. This may lead to paternalistic management. Thus, the attitude towards managers is more formal, the information flow is hierarchical and controlled.
Individualism(IDV)
The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”.
In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty.

With a score of 20 Thailand is a highly collectivist country. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member 'group' (a family, extended family, or extended relationships). Loyalty to the in-group in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group.
In order to preserve the in-group, Thai are not confrontational and in there communication a “Yes” may not mean an acceptance or agreement. An offence leads to loss of face and Thai are very sensitive not to feel shamed in front of their group. Personal relationship is key to conducting business and it takes time to build such relations thus patience is necessary as well as not openly discuss business on first occasions.
Masculinity / Femininity (MAS)
A high score (masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour.
A low score (feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine).
Thailand scores 34 on this dimension and is thus considered a feminine society. Thailand has the lowest Masculinity ranking among the average Asian countries of 53 and the World average of 50. This lower level is indicative of a society with less assertiveness and competitiveness, as compared to one where these values are considered more important and significant. This situation also reinforces more traditional male and female roles within the population.
Uncertainty avoidance(UAI)
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The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in the UAI score.
Thailand scores 64 on this dimension indicating a preference for avoiding uncertainty.
In order to minimize or reduce this level of uncertainty, strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations are adopted and implemented. The ultimate goal of this population is to control everything in order to eliminate or avoid the unexpected. As a result of this high Uncertainty Avoidance characteristic, the society does not readily accept change and is very risk adverse. Change has to be seen for the greater good of the in group.
Long term orientation(LTO)
The long term orientation dimension is closely related to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue,the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view.
With a score of 56 Thailand is a Long Term Oriented culture though not as much as for most Asian countries.
LTO is manifest on their respect for tradition and inequality between people.
Amongst the values that are praised, working hard and having a sense of moderation are dominant. The investment in personal relationships and network is paramount. Protecting one’s face is key and a protocol in their non confrontational behavior.
Their concern is not to look for one truth which helps them be flexible and pragmatic in negotiations.
Thai favor long term oriented perspective and thus Thailand deadlines and timescales are fluid.
♦ Labor Climate
Labor relations are considered a system and tend to be different between countries. Thus, understanding the labor relations system as well as the collective bargaining situation in each country will also help our understanding of the nature of the economy, industry, production methods, technological and socio-cultural dimension. The survey (Chaturong Napathorn, Suchada Chanprateep, 2011) results are perceived as an advantage to the business in managing local employer. a. Labor Union
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Labor Relations Act B.E. 2518 issued in 1975 specifies that workers are entitled to set up labor unions, negotiate with employers, set up a Workers‟ Committee, and follow the grievance procedures. However, most of the private-sector workers are non-union workers due to the highly paternalistic labor–management relations existing in such enterprises and the limitation of the size of the enterprises. The rate of unionization in Thailand is still very low (Thanachaisetthavut, 1996; Khinkaew, 1999). The survey found that less than 5% of the workers in Thailand are members of labor unions. Sometimes, the employers attempted to weaken the labor unions within their enterprises or create disharmony among the workers.
The contract workers cannot join a labor union in Thailand due to the fact that the Labor Relations Act B.E. 1975 specifies that workers who will be members of labor unions must be the same type of workers as those who register the establishment of labor unions with the registrar; workers who do this are usually permanent workers. Thus, contract workers cannot be fully protected by the labor relations laws. A larger number of contract workers in the current economic situation help employers manage human resources more flexibly. b. Labor Skills
The survey suggests that much of the labor force is engaged in agriculture and services. The agricultural sector is still the largest sector in terms of employment in Thailand, with approximately 14.6 million workers in this sector (Saichua, 2010). However, due to the national industrialization strategy and the economic development of Thailand focuses on manufacturing for exports, a larger number of workers tend to move from the agricultural sector to the manufacturing sector. Thus, the business foresee that the training needs as insignificant.
The semi-skilled and unskilled workforce or the peripheral workers (Atkinson, 1985). The number of peripheral workers has continuously increased over time. Often, loyalty to the company among this type of workforce tends to be low, and the company does not usually invest its money in the training and development of such a workforce. Thus, there is a needs to understand this classification of the workforce and by adopting an appropriate staffing policy and human resources practices to manage each type of workforce promote loyalty to the company in the long term. c. Local Culture
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The climate of labor relations in Thailand has been perceived as autocratic (Deyo, 1995). The system appears to be under the control of the management even though some forms of worker participation have been introduced. Thai workers are rather slow to organize due to cultural factors and traditional deference to seniors (Levine, 1997). Suthakavatin (2005) mentions that a low level of masculinity and a high level of uncertainty avoidance in Thailand makes Thai society more cooperative and less aggressive (Suthakavatin, 2005). The industrial labor relations system in Thailand has been affected by the practices of the “Middle Path” in Buddhism (the national religion), which discourages Thai workers from believing in extremism. The workers do not feel comfortable taking any one side; rather, they like to cooperate with one another and believe that quarrelling is not the solution to any problem. Based on these facts, the workers appeared to be controllable/manageable. 4. Infrastructures Issues
There are three important issues in the port infrastructure sector in Thailand, namely Intermodal transport issue, Non-Environmental Friendly Infrastructures and pricing for the infrastructure issues. We describe these issues as follows. a. Intermodal Transport
Currently, 60,000 container trucks access Laem Chabang Port per day. And as the road infrastructure within and surrounding the port is not enough to cater the volume of the trucks which entering and going out of the port, these has particularly lead to port congestion. Indirectly, this port congestion has also affected the performance of the port as many cargoes were not able to be loaded and unloaded on time as required by the customers. Simultaneously, the requirement for any container services will reduce or remain stagnant until this issue has been resolved.

At present, the port faces serious traffic problems on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The problem is from the place where the tax document is issued, which is too close to the checking gate. Also, the e-toll system for vehicles has not worked completely.

In order to address this issue, Thailand intended to expand both internal and external shipping networks of the port. Meanwhile, the Government has also has planned to expand the road network to support the logistics system in the Eastern region and Laem Chabang Port with a total budget of about 29 billion Baht. For example, it will expand the number of lanes on the road leading to the port from four to 14 with a budget of 2.5 billion Baht. The Department of Rural Roads has plans for seven projects to construct a road connecting with the port.

b. Non-Environmentally friendly Infrastructures
The Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) announced an agreement with four other major ports on the Pacific rim: Port of Tacoma, Port of Dalian, Port of Incheon and Port of Kitakyushu. The agreement will unite the ports in a drive to become more environmentally friendly under the Green Port initiative.
The objective of the initiative is to cooperate with one another on environmental issues involving port activities such as reducing emissions, improving the quality of the environment and controlling the effect port operations have upon it.
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The Green Port initiative will allow Laem Chabang Port to exchange information and technology with other participating ports in the Asia Pacific region and apply better resources into designing better infrastructure for its next phase. It will also allow the port to adopt more environmentally friendly tools and methods such as the capability to generate electricity for vessels berthed alongside its terminals or bring in innovative equipment that will help reduce emissions and consume less energy.
In addition to this, Laem Chabang Port has been continually pro-active in preserving the environment with successful projects such as restoring the mangrove forests along Laem Chabang’s coasts and diving activities to collect underwater trash. The port is also promoting awareness in energy conservation throughout its community. Its ultimate goal: to create an efficient business that has a minimal impact on the environment in which it operates. c. Infrastructure Pricing
Economic theory suggests that infrastructure charges should reflect the social marginal cost of adding an extra vehicle kilometer to the existing use of a road. This implies calculating and charging for the additional cost imposed on society with regard to road maintenance, accident risks, congestion, and damage to human health and the environment from exhaust emissions and noise.
In Thailand, the charging for infrastructure is not consistent. Moreover, with the GMS-cross border activity in mind, the systematic approach to infrastructure charging is certainly required, especially for the heavy goods vehicles. However, it is very difficult to develop a charging scheme. Even the EU countries have a wide variety of the Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) charging systems. Sundberg and Cunningham (2002) summarize the levy charges for HGV use across the EU and Scandinavian nations into six schemes: Eurovignette, Vehicle Tax, Fuel Price, Fuel Duty, Road Tolls, and Other User Charges.
Of these measures, Eurovignette and Vehicle Tax are of interest. The former was established by the Benelux countries, Denmark, and Germany in 1995; Sweden joined the system in 1998. The idea was that through the Eurovignette, participating countries would receive financial compensation for the wear and tear caused by HGVs, using their road networks. In each of the participating countries all vehicles with a gross vehicle weight in excess of 12 tons are liable for the charge. The Eurovignette directive (EU 1996) aimed to soften the impact of competition on the road freight sector caused by the existence of vastly different methods and levels of charging for the infrastructure use in different countries.
A study to aid the harmonization of the heavy goods vehicles charge compared the charging systems of the heavy good vehicles across EU countries. In this regard they listed the following characteristics that were relevant to the study: i. Roads to which the charges is applied to ii. 24
Lorry weight charged iii. Vehicles charged (domestic and/or foreign) iv. Cost categories included in calculation v. Type of charge (time or distance based) vi. Factors by which charge rates are varied vii. Revenue use viii. Other policies alongside tolls to ease implementation ix. Technical implementation and collection of billing data

This is an important issue that deserves further investigation. Although it is too early to do a design based on the charging scheme, the above list nonetheless provides an overview of the characteristics that should be taken into account when implementing such a charge. Furthermore, this list will be very valuable when the benefit sharing options for the cross-border transport movement in the GMS are analyzed in the future. 5. Diamonds of Competitiveness for Thailand and Malaysia

Chart 5 Diamonds for Malaysia & Thailand

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In term of competitiveness, in terms of how big the area, population or GDP, Malaysia is doing much better than Thailand. Based on Porter diamond measure, out of four factors, except for demand conditions, Malaysia is doing better in three compared to Thailand. The area are, firm strategy, structure and rivalry and related and supporting industries and factor condition. Basically, Thailand can perform better than Malaysia considering their land size, labor force, demand and total income but when it came down to GDP growth, GDP per capita and specialized actors or other economic outcomes, Malaysia perform much better.
Firm Strategy, Structure and Rivalry
In overall, Malaysia performs better than Thailand in generating more revenues, especially from foreign sources. Healthier investment in terms of domestic savings rather than debt financing; better awarding system for workers; better energy use relative to output; higher production efficiency; higher ability to produce sophisticated products and more favorable competitive environment.
Related and Supporting Industries
Although Thailand has more industrial growth and local supplier compared to Malaysia which has more labor productivity and industrial estates yet Malaysia perform better than Thailand since Malaysia local supplier are also as many as Thailand.
Factor Conditions
Endowed factors and created factors which Porter emphasized that it support a long-term competitive advantage for firms and a nation. The firms that are located in Malaysia would absorb this benefit and could perform better than the firm in Thailand.

Demand Conditions
This is a relative Thailand strength than Malaysia. Thailand, with higher quantity demand, would help a nation’s firm to easily gain economies of scale in selling goods and services. However Thailand lack quality demand in which Malaysia firm could sell differentiated, quality products and hence could sell higher value or more sophisticated in the international market successfully than Thailand can do.
In order for Thailand to improve and compete with Malaysia, Thailand should focused and upgrade more on ‘higher value or sophisticated products”. By doing this, it could generate more revenues from foreign sources and increases its efficiency in using energy in the production. Thailand also, need to increase and upgrade its advanced and specialized factors. Information and Communication Technology and research and development should be emphasized as the investment in ICT and R&D would in the first hand stimulate the growth of economy. In long-term it also total factor productivity, labor productivity thus income and quality demand. As such, not only it would solve the weaknesses to Malaysia but also to the rest of ASEAN. 6. Technology and CRM Implications
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Technology offers tremendous promise in transforming the processes related to ocean freight shipping services. Rust [1], for example, envisions a general transformation in services as the inevitable result of dramatic advances in technologies in computers and communication. Technology can provide faster response to customer needs which is a requirement for survival in the competitive container shipping sector. Laine and Vesalainen [2] provide evidence that technology can add tremendous value in harnessing the profit-making potential in port operation. Advanced cargo handling technologies, for example, can reap significant cost savings for shippers and shipping companies alike. Other shipping companies have used internet technology as a marketing tool to attract customers [3].

Shipping being an integral part of the global logistics activities has seen tremendous growth in the past few decades. It is become more common for shipping companies to operate logistics arm so as to offer total solutions to customers via door-to-door shipment services. As technology advances rapidly, the emphasis on the use of information technologies in logistics and/or supply chain management of maritime companies is increasing at the same pace.

According to Romano (2003), e-integration in the supply chain management can support business processes at two different levels: 1. intra-company integration, to alleviate the boundaries between functional departments of the organisation and facilitate intra-organisation information exchange and management; and, 2. inter-company integration, to alleviate the boundaries between individual companies and facilitate inter-companies dyadic integration or overall supply network integration.

The intra-company IT applications mostly serve two purposes – to produce or facilitate the services and daily operations of the company (service/operation related), and to support the company’s general administration, management and decision-making (information management related). Inter-company IT applications handle the company’s exchange of information with external parties, of which the most common parties are suppliers and customers. As a result, inter-company IT applications are categorized into customer-related and supplier-related applications. Web-based IT applications are frequently discussed in many literatures recently, and this type of IT applications can serve both intra- and inter-company purposes. Ngai et al. (2008) indicated in their findings that companies with international business coverage are more likely to adopt logistics information system than those whose business operations are confined to local business operation.
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CRM (Customer Relationship Management) has become a contemporary mantra in the way businesses recognise its importance. CRM has no clear paradigm as is evident by the many ways it is conceptualised [8]. Kleindl [9] views CRM systems as a combination of software and management practices to serve the customer from order placement through delivery and after-sales service. It must be noted that CRM involves a two-way flow of information and energy between the firm and its customers. As such, service encounters cannot be separated from CRM systems if such systems are designed properly. Zikmund, McLeod and Gilbert [10] define CRM as a ‘process to compile information that increases understanding of how to manage an organisation’s relationships with its customers’ and as a ‘business strategy that uses information technology to provide an enterprise with a comprehensive, reliable and integrated view of its customer base so that all processes and customer interactions help maintain and expand mutually beneficial relationships’. However, thinking about CRM in primarily technological terms is a mistake since CRM involves the integration of many resources in the firm. Since these relationships involve trust and commitment, personal contacts in the form of service encounters are also essential. Trust is an integral part of the shipping industry and CRM technology solutions alone are not likely to create the bonding between shipping lines and clients. CRM is based on the premise that developing a relationship with customers creates loyalty; loyal customers in turn provide more profits than those who are not loyal. As a B2B sector, the shipping industry can use technology as an integral part of its CRM system. In particular, information technology in the form of the internet and business intelligence can enable shipping firms to focus on their customers more in depth and provide products and sales service at levels that are necessary to retain customers. The call centre can be another important element of CRM technology for shipping lines. Carriers can employ call centre technology to identify each incoming call and match it to the appropriate customer’s record. An automated call distribution system can direct the calls to the proper department of the shipping line. the service sector. In sum, implicit in the operation of CRM are three core aspects: market orientation, information technology and integration. Technology facilitates better interactions among customers and service personnel, makes call centres more efficient, helps sales staff close deals faster, discovers new customers, and simplifies marketing and sales processes. CRM, in turn, provides an integrated approach in managing important aspects of customer relationships and in adding value to the many dimensions involved in customer relationships [14].
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E-business presents one of the greatest opportunities and challenges in economy. Changes in technology, the rise of the Internet and the critical need to attract, train and retain talent, make the job one of the most challenging in today’s business. The nature of business is changing. Years of fierce competition on the high street mean that to be successful, entrepreneur has to examine every aspect of their business to ensure a profitable return on investment. The cutting edge for business today is e-commerce. E-commerce is generally described as a method of buying and selling products and services electronically. The main vehicle of e-commerce remains the Internet and the World Wide Web, but use of e-mail, fax and telephone orders is also prevalent. Electronic commerce is the application communication and information sharing technology among trading partners to the pursuit of business objectives. E-commerce can be defined as modern business methodology that addresses the needs of the organization, merchants and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and speed of service delivery. E-commerce is associated with the buying and selling of information, products, services via computer networks. A key element of e-commerce is information processing.

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In the developed country, e-commerce has crossed the stage of early adopters. It is now set to jump to the next level of early majority. This stage in the adoption of new technology is the largest segment and during this phase it is going to experience the most rapid growth. The reach and low cost of the Internet makes it one of the most popular mediums for e-commerce. Security oftransactions has been one of the major concerns in the Internet. But with the improvements in the technology and protocols, this threat has been minimised to a large extent. Advantages far outweigh the risks involved in the e-commerce platform. The sheer growth in the number of Internet users worldwide is a proof of this. It has also become clear now that more than the Business to Consumers (B2C) segment, the real potential of ecommerce on the Internet is in the Business to Business (B2B) segment. This will affect all the transactions that are economic in nature. The advantages of Internet can be in aspects of shipping, like cargo booking, chartering, sourcing spare parts, manning requirements, tracking of containers and cargo. All these activities are going to benefit as the parties on each side can have easy and cheap access of information. They can meet and exchange information on the web quite unmindful of the physical distance between them. The Shipping industry has been a laggard in the adoption of information technology. Some of the major ports in the world have long embraced information technology to reap the benefits.

7. Marketing Strategies
♦ Size of Market

In the nineteenth century, when the capital of the Thai kingdom moved to Bangkok, the foreign trade, particularly with China, became the focus of the government. Chinese merchants came to trade, yet some settled down and received the official positions. Numbers of Chinese merchants and migrants became high dignitaries in the court. On the other hand, European merchants became active from the mid-nineteenth century. The Bowring Treaty signed in 1855, guaranteed the privileges of British traders. Bangkok became one of the most important trading centers in East Asia (wikipedia, 2010).
The United States is Thailand's largest export market and second-largest supplier after Japan. While Thailand's traditional major markets have been North America, Japan, and Europe, economic recovery among Thailand's regional trading partners has helped Thai export growth. Recovery from the financial crisis depended heavily on increased exports to the rest of Asia and the United States.
Since 2005, the rapid ramp-up in export of automobiles of Japanese makes (esp. Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu) has helped to dramatically improve the trade balance, with over 1 million cars produced annually since then. As such, Thailand has joined the ranks of the world's top ten automobile exporting nations. Machinery and parts, vehicles, electronic integrated circuits, chemicals, crude oil and fuels, and iron and steel are among Thailand's principal imports.
Laem Chabang Port (port) has been selected as a business location based on the following factors:- a) The port is one of the highest (trading) growth rates in the world; rated World Top Container Port by the world’s leading magazine such as Loylld List etc. The rating had leapfrogged from the twenty-third in 1998 – 1999 to the twentieth and eighteenth in 2002 and 2003 accordingly. Laem Chabang Port, located in the eastern part of Thailand, covered an area of 2,572 Acres, is the main deep sea port of Thailand that offers universal services in order to exchange goods worldwide.

b) Compete and advance infrastructure as it consists of several minor ports that provide services that cater the operations need as follows: i. Seven container terminals ii. 30
One multipurpose terminal iii. One Ro/Ro terminal iv. One passengers and Ro/Ro terminal v. One general cargo terminal vi. One shipyard terminal

c) The geographical location of Thailand is bonded with neighboring countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia and also has the access to China and Vietnam. It acts as a gateway to South East Asia region. It has an advantage of its large hinterland, therefore, the port has high capacity to develop to be a gateway port by inviting those neighbouring countries to be its hinterland.

d) The port is capable in handling extra large ships (Super Post Panamax). The Port Authority of Thailand is responsible for the whole port, while it lets private sectors to contract the operational function which is called “Landlord Port”. With the intention to develop Laem Chabang Port to be entitled one of the World Class Port; all requirements to meet the high standard service provision have to be implemented. Some of the implementations are as follows: i. Increase the service capacity to ensure all services as mentioned are achieved. ii. Utilize port area to also support other relevant activities. iii. Increase productivity. iv. Employ modern technology to function docking field and yard operation. v. Initiate new projects and activities to fulfill and cover all services requirements such as Container Care Centre Project.

e) 31
Based on the historical and forecasted data, the expected container throughput after the completion of 3 Basins (a circular container with greater width and depth) would increase up to 8.55 million annually. For conservative business forecasting as a new market player, the business is expected to capture at least 1% of the market share or 85,500 (7,125 containers monthly). Details as tabulated below;

Figure 3 Historical and Forecasted Data

♦ Socioculture Acceptance of Product

Countries differ along a whole range of dimensions, including social structure, language, religion and education. The differences have important implications for marketing strategies. As for the proposed business, despite being located in Thailand, the socio culture acceptance may not post an impact based on the following reasons:- a. Business is setting up in the form of Joint-Venture (JV) with local partner, which is in line with the country regulation. Local Thais will hold 51% share and remaining will be hold by us. The advantages by doing so is that the business will benefit from the local partner’s knowledge regards to the country’s competitive conditions, culture, language, political and business system.

b. These services offered are specialize for international shipping companies instead of local consumer.
♦ Method for Marketing & Distributions

a. 32
Business’s clients are source from the holding company’s existing customer at the point of entering. As at todate, business had secured 5 contracts with the international shipping companies such as Malaysian Shipping Corp Bhd (MISC), American President Line (APL), MAERSK Line, Hanjing Shipping and K-Line. And as time goes by, with the company establishment in the market, business will entered an agreement with others shipping companies since there are about 42 shipping companies operated at the said port. a. Targeting only 1% of total local available market for 100% depot capacity and need to secure at least 7 shipping lines of the total 42 lines currently call at Laem Chabang Port. b. The services offered are according to international standard. These can be seen from the acceptance level of their customers which consist of established shipping companies. c. Services charges offered are much competitive as compared with among other competitors at surrounding nations due to lower labour cost. d. The potential customers from the established international shipping companies will be connected through advertising channel of the port community such as magazines and internet. e. Adequate variety of services and therefore revenue streams – Maintenance and Repair, cleaning, Lift On Lift Off (LOLO),etc. 8. Conclusion

In this study we can conclude that Integrated Container Terminal(M) Sdn Bhd has made the precise business decision to enter international market by choosing Thailand for their long term business expansion plan. This decision has been supported by stable Thailand’s government policy, strategic location, conducive and competitive environment coupled with convincing labor climate.

Having faith on the company, we trust that the company will further grow to become one of the major player in providing container services within South East Asia by implementing the correct marketing strategy which has been highlighted in this study.

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References 1. 2011 International Trade Statistics Yearbook 2. Malaysia External Trade Statistics 2012 3. http://www.cia.gov 4. http://www.eria.org 5. http://www.indexmundi.com 6. http://www.laemchabangport.com 7. http://www.nationmultimedia.com 8. http://www.wikipedia.org
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