Bangkok, Thailand, October 19, 2020 —Around 1,500 jobs will be created and over 4,500 employees in the hospitality industry will continue to receive their salaries, thanks to an agreement that aims to build green buildings and infuse working capital to sustain operations in Thailand amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Green infrastructure in the hotel sector will spur low-carbon growth and create skilled jobs, thereby accelerating a sustainable economic recovery in Thailand.
In sync with the nation’s development vision, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide a green loan of up to $143 million (about 4.5 billion Thai baht) to Asset World Corporation (AWC) to finance new green projects and decarbonize its existing assets applying globally-recognized Green Loan Principles. This will enable Thailand’s largest hospitality player to create around 1,500 direct jobs — receptionists, cleaners, security, restaurant workers — and 3,800 indirect jobs in its hotel supply chain. Further, IFC’s funding will allow the company to pay salaries to thousands of AWC employees in the hospitality business.
“The current crisis offers an unprecedented opportunity for Asset World Corporation to take action on climate change and make investments in low-carbon infrastructure to build a better future,” said Wallapa Traisorat, CEO and President of AWC . “The loan approval is a testimonial to our long-standing unwavering determination to sustainability initiatives focusing on reducing carbon emissions, saving energy, and optimizing resource utilization. These help us accelerate the readiness to adopt the IFC’s EDGE green building standards in our asset portfolio as well as promote the use of the EDGE standards in Thailand all whilst rebuilding an invigorating hospitality and tourism landscape in Thailand for a better, more sustainable future.”
Apart from financing, IFC will work with AWC on EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification of at least five of its hotels including retrofitting, refurbishing, and constructing new greenfield hotels. IFC’s EDGE is a green building certification system created for emerging markets. AWC’s hotels will become the first in Thailand to be EDGE compliant, establishing the viability of green construction for the tourism sector. AWC also aims to become the first real sector company in Thailand to issue a green bond.
“Our goal is to help Asset World Corporation become a leader in sustainable tourism in Thailand,” said Vivek Pathak, IFC’s Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific . “The project will not only support the long-term green recovery in the tourism sector by enabling a market leader to build up its green asset portfolio and position for the issuance of the first real sector green bond in Thailand, but also provide immediate liquidity relief to support ongoing hotel operations during COVID-19.”
AWC is planning to grow its hotel network from 16 to 28 by 2024, which will expand its capacity from 4,869 rooms to around 8,850 rooms. The expansion will also contribute to increasing the share of green buildings in the country. In 2017, out of 234,201 buildings with permits, only 240 of them were green-certified (about 0.1 percent) with most of them being commercial buildings.
With the support of local partners IFC aims to turn 20 percent of new construction projects (equivalent to 80,000 housing units) into green initiatives in select cities by 2021. This level of penetration will help cut 1.2 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions per year, avoid 500 megawatt-hours of energy use, and save almost $200 million per year by 2021.
About IFC
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org .
About EDGE
An innovation of IFC, EDGE helps property developers to build and brand green in a fast, easy, and affordable way. EDGE is an online platform, a green building standard, and a certification system for more than 170 countries. To date, EDGE-certified commercial and residential projects across the world keep nearly 230,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually from entering the atmosphere. For more information, visit www.edgebuildings.com .
About AWC
Asset World Corp Public Company Limited (AWC) is Thailand’s leading integrated lifestyle real estate group under TCC Group, with a sustainable diversified development pipeline for future growth as well as the potential for long-term capital appreciation. AWC’s business operations are organized into two principal segments: (i) Hospitality, comprising hotels managed and operated by the world’s leading hotel chains including Marriott, The Luxury Collection, Okura, Le Méridien, Banyan Tree, Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Sheraton and Melia (ii) Retail and Commercial Building, comprising Retail and Wholesale group which includes world-class tourist lifestyle destination, community shopping mall, community market and wholesale space, with such well-known projects as Asiatique the Riverfront, Gateway at Bangsue, Pantip Plaza Pratunam and Tawanna Bangkapi; and Office Building group with prominent projects located in highly sought-after, central business district in Bangkok like Empire Tower, Athenee Tower, etc.
On October 10, 2019, Asset World Corporation has succeeded in listing the company on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in the real estate and construction industry under the property development category. AWC’s market capitalization was highest in SET history. (According to Bloomberg Database)
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