PTT Philippines, a premier Thai oil and gas conglomerate, is expanding its business operations in the Philippines.
With 96 PTT gas stations now operating in the Philippines, PTT wants to build 300 stations in the country by 2020, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
“The (Thailand) government has given us permission to invest the funds. Our president has ordered us to invest in a foreign country and the direction is quite clear now where we should invest.” PTT Public Co. Ltd. vice president for international marketing Wisarn Chawalitanon told The Standard, during a PTT Study Tour for the Philippine media in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand recently.
The planned 104 stations is worth P4 billion of foreign direct investment in the Philippines.
PTT has retail outlets in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar and has established a solid base in the Philippines.
“Our domestic stock has been on an uptrend the last five years and the Philippines will play a big role in our investments for the next five years,” said Chawalitanon.
PTT Philippines’ expansion in the country, however, is not limited to the business of producing oil and gas, petrochemicals, refineries, power generation and coal.
It also means expanding its base through the involvement in sports, like what its local energy and petroleum rivals do.
“As we do our expansion, our presence in many events and tournaments will also be expanding. It is not just a matter of beefing up our efforts for brand awareness, sports particularly motorsports would always be part and parcel of PTT Lubricants. It is an opportunity for us to introduce in the Philippine motorsports the kind of products that we have; the same PTT products that have been tested and proven abroad,” said Vittaya Viboonterawud, PTT Philippines’ Corporate Communications Manager.
PTT Philippines realizes the importance of sports in promoting its products.
In Thailand, where PTT is the no. 1 energy company, its support of various sports, from football to tennis to motorsports, is something the company is proud of.
PTT’s involvement in Thai sports is legendary. Football, for instance, is on top of its list.
It owns the Petroleum Authority of Thailand Rayong Football Club, also referred to as PTT Rayong, a Thai professional football club based in Rayong Province, currently playing in the Thai Division 1 League after being promoted from the Thailand Division 2 league when it finished runner-up during the 2007 season.
PTT also backs a racing team in the Asia Touring Championships, golf via the Asian Tour and other various disciplines such as tennis and table tennis, among others.
“Like our parent company in Thailand, PTT Philippines also strongly supports sports, particularly motorsports. We have been sponsoring some major tournaments in the Philippines like the motocross series at the MX Messiah Fairground in Taytay, Rizal which happened to be the site also of one of our gasoline stations, the PTT Taytay,” said Viboonterawud.
“In 2015, we had our PTT Motocross Challenge in the same venue that was participated in by the Philippines’ top professional riders that included the legend Glenn Aguilar and Davao’s pride Bornok Mangosong. This year, we also supported the recent Diamond Motor Corporation MX Series,” added.
But apart from motocross, PTT Philippines is also taking part in racing events.
“Last year, we supported the 2015 FlatOut Race Series at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga,” said Viboonterawud. “We also back racers, who have big potential in their respective leagues, especially those competing abroad.”
Viboonterawud added: “We support these events and tournaments because we believe in the potential of Filipino athletes, especially racers for that matter. Obviously, we have stake in motorsports because we need to promote the PTT Fuel and Lubricants, but beyond that, we believe that we ought to support also events and tournaments of this kind for the Philippines to develop more athletes and soon-to-be superstar in sports.”
So don’t be surprised to see a Filipino sports icon or a budding athlete donning that PTT jersey or holding that PTT lubricant in future print or TV commercials.
“We are actually going into that direction. We might be getting an athlete to serve as an endorser or act as a PTT ambassador. We are just in the process of determining the qualities and attributes of that somebody. He or she must embody the qualities of PTT, a company the provides good products and good services,” Viboonterawud said.
