WHA Industrial Development and China’s Tus Holdings To Launch Science & Tech TusPark in Bangkok

Executives from WHA and TUS Holdings sign the joint venture agreement to develop the TusPark WHA Incubation Center,
during the online signing ceremony

Shown in the right photo — WHA Group executives:

1. Ms. Jareeporn Jarukornsakul (2^nd left), Chairman and Group CEO of WHA Corporation PCL
2. Mr. David Nardone (2^nd right), Group Executive Industrial and International, WHA Industrial Development PLC
3. Mr. Krailuck Asawachatroj (left), Chief Strategy Officer, WHA Corporation PCL
4. Ms. Montika Charoenyingwattana (right) Director – Strategic Business Development, WHA Corporation PCL

Shown in the left photo — TUS Holdings executives:

1. Mr. CHEN Yu (center), Senior Vice President of TusHoldings and Chairman of Yunnan Tus Industry and Commerce Development Co., Ltd.
2. Mr. Yuheng CHANG (left), CEO of TusPark WHA
3. Mr. Herbert CHEN (right), COO of TusHoldings

Backed by WHA's local expertise and TUS' global network, the new JV company, WHA TUS Co., Ltd., will establish Thailand's first TusPark, as an Innovation and Incubation Center in downtown Bangkok. The aim of this project is to incubate startups and promote cooperation in Science and Technology between China, Thailand and other ASEAN countries.

Bangkok, 29 September 2020 – WHA Industrial Development PLC. (WHAID), Thailand's leading developer of industrial estates, and Tus-Holdings Co., Ltd. (TUS), a leading Chinese Science and Technology service group, have announced the establishment of a joint-venture company, WHA TUS Co., Ltd. With a registered capital of THB 30 million, WHAID holds 51% and TUS holds 49% of the new company's shares.

Strategically located within the compound of Chulalongkorn University along Rama IV Road, the 1,408 sq.m. TusPark WHA Incubation Center offers more than 230 working desks to nurture over 80 startups. In additions to functional workplace and high-quality facilities, the center also provides tenants with Incubation Services which include entrepreneurship salon, venture tours, project optimizing, online training etc. Soft-landing Services will also be provided and include company registration, legal, financial, taxation advices and intellectual property services. In addition, TusPark WHA's facilities of more than 400 sq.m. can accommodate exhibitions, seminars, town hall, product launching, and business matching events. TusPark WHA Incubation Center will create an innovation ecosystem, in partnership with Chinese's government authorities, universities and research institutes as well as Thailand's leading industrial developer, to enable the development of Thai startups and to create a bridge for Thai entrepreneurs to access China's technology, talent, investors and markets – particularly China and its 1.4 billion population.

Bangkok's TusPark will benefit from the rich and vast experience of TusHoldings, a China-based Science and Technology service group established in 1994 with reliance on Tsinghua University, China's top university as its biggest shareholder. Owning equity in over 800 companies and representing a managed asset value of nearly USD 30 billion, it is one of the largest incubation and innovation network in China. TusHoldings has set upmore than 120 incubators and has incubated more than 5,000 startups in China. TusPark in Beijing built in 1994 has more than 1500 tenant companies settled in its total area of 770,000 square meters, the largest single university science park in the world. TusHoldings has fostered the growth of Highlander, the world's leading maritime equipment and system provider; online education platform MOOC; and online digital publisher ChineseAll. Today, it represents a global innovation and incubation network presence in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Russia and the USA.

Leveraging on WHA's 32-year industrial expertise and more than 1,000 customer base, WHA Group will support the JV with local resources and its industrial sector network. Such support will ensure that startups can potentially commercialize their products and could provide fundraising opportunities. WHA's 10 industrial estates and logistics properties represent a unique opportunity and un-matched territory for startups to run tests and trials.

The opening of TusPark WHA in Thailand is only the first step in the cooperation between TusHoldings and WHA Group. In the future, both parties will further expand the scope of the cooperation, including exploring science park projects in Thailand.

CHEN Yu, Senior Vice President of TusHoldings and Chairman of Yunnan Tus Industry and Commerce Development Co., Ltd. showed great confidence in the development of TusHoldings'new base in Thailand, as he commented that "the incubation base for sci-tech companies is co-established by TusHoldings and WHA with attention from governments of both countries and in reliance on the unique resources of government, university and industry of both parties. It is a benchmark project for China-Thailand cooperation in sci-tech innovation. TusHoldings will fully utilize its rich experience in business incubation, worldwide innovation network and the thousands of hi-tech company resources in it, to develop TusPark WHA into a flagship innovation highland of Thailand, where excellent Thai sci-tech companies are fostered and Sino-Thai enterprises' exchange, cooperation and development are facilitated."

MA Xiaowei, President of Tus-City Group, said that "Tus-City Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TusHoldings,. The group's scientific and technological innovation network covers key cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Hefei, Wuhan, Xi 'an, Nanjing, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and overseas cities in Russia, South Korea, Japan, etc. We hope that the cooperation with WHA Group in Thailand will achieve win-win results."

Herbert CHEN, COO of TusHoldings said that "International cooperation is one of the most important development strategies of TusHoldings. The cooperation with WHA is such a powerful combination indeed. I hope both parties will work together closely with synergy, to overcome challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, so as to build a platform for communication and cooperation between Chinese and Thai high-tech enterprises, make it a benchmark for Sino-Thai innovation collaboration as well as an extraordinary achievement of Thailand's innovation and entrepreneurship, thereby contributing to strengthen the friendship between Chinese and Thai people and promoting economic and social development."

"We are delighted to form this JV company with Tus-Holdings, as it perfectly matches WHA's strategy to promote new technologies and the digital transformation of Thailand's industrial sector" declared Ms. Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, WHA Group Chairman of the Board and Group Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to sharing our resources so we can usher in a new wave of innovation that will positively impact industries, investment and growth in the coming years, congruent with the government's Thailand 4.0 strategy."

"We are confident that the creation of this joint venture and TusPark WHA marks the start of a fruitful collaboration with Tus-Holdings' global network, as we see it as a long term partnership" said Mr. David Nardone, Group Executive Industrial and International, WHA Industrial Development. "It will enable us to further develop our concept of Smart Eco Industrial Estates with access to new potential innovative technologies as well as move up toward higher-value properties like the development of Science and Technology Parks in the future"