Women of substance
Female leaders are using their clout to drive change in the private and public sectors, write Post reporters
Meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight, but over the last three decades, Thailand has been a leader in fostering equality in the executive arena, and this year was no exception.
The nation is already well above worldwide averages in terms of percentage of female chief executive/managing directors (33%) and companies with women represented in senior management (86%), according to a Grant Thornton survey, but still needs powerful female leaders driving change in the private and public sectors.
Whatever the reason may be — cultural, economic or purely practical — as 2019 comes to a close, countless examples of women are pushing change in a variety of industries. Slowly but surely, Thai women in business are getting seats in the boardroom and offices in the executive suite. Female business leaders have helped reinvigorate ossified businesses, modernising the economy and pushing forward the Thailand 4.0 digital goals.
Here are some of the standouts this year leading the way for women in business.
RUENVADEE SUWANMONGKOL
Change is in the air at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, the first female secretary-general, has rolled out a strategy to beef up competitiveness of Thailand’s capital market and provide a level playing field for all participants.
Nominated for the top job at the SEC before the application period closed on Sept 21, 2018, Ms Ruenvadee, 55, was appointed secretary-general on May 1, succeeding Rapee Sucharitakul.
She started her career at the SEC, before moving to the Justice Ministry’s legal affairs bureau, then rose through the ranks at the ministry as deputy director of the Office of Justice Affairs, inspector-general and director-general of the Probation Department. She was reshuffled to the top job at the Legal Execution Department by the National Council for Peace and Order in 2014.
She acquired a reputation as an agent of change, when she modernised the notoriously archaic and bureaucratic department, introducing a paperless, digitised database system, the first government agency to do so in Thailand.
As borderless financial markets and technological disruptions increasingly complicate the job of regulators, Ms Ruenvadee has made her top priority digitising the SEC.
The regulator aims to build up distributed ledger technology (DLT) as the main IT infrastructure platform linking all members and products in the capital market. Corporate bonds have been selected as the initial securities under a pilot project involving DLT in 2020.
As a cornerstone of Thailand’s economy, the SEC plans to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gaining access to raising funds in the capital market. The market regulator will allow SMEs to issue securities products such as stocks and convertible corporate bonds, as well as make offerings directly to investors and employees.
The move will reduce unnecessary procedures and costs, and SMEs will be able to offer these securities to institutional investors, venture capitalists or joint venture corporations, as well as directors and employees of these entities, with an unlimited amount for the offering value.
Ms Ruenvadee’s new ideas and forward outlook aim to not only modernise the SEC but catapult it into the future.
SUPHAJEE SUTHUMPUN
Among the list of powerful businesswomen in Thailand, Suphajee Suthumpun stands out for her professionalism, extensive expertise and proven track record managing domestic and international corporations.
She developed a tech-savvy, world-class management style by working at top companies like IBM in the US, IBM Thailand and Thaicom Plc, before landing the job as group chief executive of Dusit Thani Plc in 2016. Running one of Thailand’s oldest hospitality service companies, operating more than 50 hotels worldwide, provided a new opportunity to prove her aptitude.
Mrs Suphajee, 55, has strengthened the core corporate values of Dusit Thani and built the company’s founding vision to promote Thai hospitality around the world.
Under her leadership, Dusit Thani has adopted a bold, long-term strategic plan to balance, diversify and expand its portfolio for sustainable growth.
She has moved the company into new business segments by acquiring a major stake in Epicure Catering Co, a catering company for hotels, and a full acquisition of Elite Heavens Co, the leading provider of high-end vacation rentals in Asia. She also opened Dusit Thani’s first boutique hotel to cash in on growing millennial travellers.
Probably the most impactful decision during her reign was to close the almost 50-year-old Dusit Thani hotel and develop the site into a 37-billion-baht mixed-use project in partnership with Central Group.
Such bold business expansion, especially to overseas markets, led Mrs Suphajee to win the Asean Entrepreneur Award in the Regional Champion category from the Asean Korea Centre and Maeil Business Newspaper, the first Thai business person to do so.
In the coming years, Mrs Suphajee and her management team aim to stick to their plan and open 10-12 new hotels under the Dusit International brand and expand the business by 100% in three years.