Bangkok--27 May--Siemens
Today Siemens Limited Thailand, a world leading international suppliers of railway solutions and logistic systems, underlines its commitment to the Thai government’s mass transit expansion and development plan with its readiness to transfer technologies and know how in the rail transportation sector as well as to support Bangkok to explore possibilities to become a world class transit oriented metropolis of the 21st century by 2050 according to a recent Siemens-sponsored study released by ITS Infrastructure and Transportation Systems Consultancy Ltd., Hong Kong, and Albert Speer & Partners (AS&P), Architects, Planners, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
The reiteration of Siemens’ commitment was given at the 2nd Thai-German Joint Economic Committee Meeting in Berlin between Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu and German Economic Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg in early May on the bilateral economic co-operation and investment in Thailand.
“We strongly support and are fully committed to Thailand’s sustainability development and the government’s plan through world class technology transfer, particularly in the field of rail transportation”, said Mr. Anthony Chay, President & CEO of Siemens Ltd. Thailand.
Siemens’ commitment towards technology transfer to the country includes 1) the Bangkok 21 project initiative launched jointly with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the King Mongkut Institute of Technology Lat Krabang (KMITL) to outline a roadmap to transform Bangkok into a world-class, transit-oriented metropolis like New York and Paris, 2) the formation of the German-Thai Engineering Technology Alliance, and 3) local rolling stock assembly possibilities.
One core value of Siemens is a strong commitment to good corporate citizenship; the company actively manages the social responsibility and environmental impact of its activities. Siemens today reaffirms the long term commitment and contribution to Thailand’s education as a responsible corporate citizen by transferring technologies in a sustainable manner via the German-Thai Engineering Technology Alliance (G-TETA), a partnership of RWTH Aachen University, the Thai-German Institute and Siemens. This involves the set-up of a Master Course in Mass Transport Engineering in the country at The Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), which is an already existing joint venture between RWTH Aachen and King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok to provide engineering education in Thailand for over seven years now.
“We would like to fulfill the government’s intention of not just buying foreign technology, but also to develop local know-how and competency. Hence, Siemens is willing to continuously foster local engineers in order to contribute eventually to the development of the mass transit industry and the country”, expressed Mr. Chay.
As a German firm, Siemens Ltd. Thailand, a reliable partner of Thailand’s railway industry for over 15 years, is very keen to continuously support and contribute to the country’s much needed integrated mass transit infrastructure that plays a vital role in the overall economic development.
Mr. Chay added that Siemens was ready to vie for Bangkok’s future mass transit projects and is looking forward to an opportunity to provide state-of-the-art solutions to further develop the network for Bangkok commuters. With the worldwide experience, and particularly with the experience from the successful projects in Bangkok BTS, the metro and the ongoing Airport Rail Link project, Siemens’ proven project implementation and highest standards of system performance demonstrate clearly the capability to deliver excellent performance that have outstanding safety and reliability records. Furthermore, with the well established local expertise, well trained resources and excellent proven partners, Siemens will be able to supply the new mass transit system in the capital in the fastest and most cost-efficient manner.
“We are confident that we will be able to make the best competitive offer. One of our strengths and differentiation to other suppliers is that we have the largest local project management set-up, covering more than 600 employees with engineering and service capabilities — a large pool of which we have continuously built up since 1995”, underscored Siemens’ CEO.