Central Pattana Public Company Limited (CPN), operator of centralwOlrd, CentralPlaza CentralFestival, Central Phuket and Central Village, is offering spaces, within 23 out of its 33 shopping centres, as venues for public vaccination in order to hasten mass innoculation in all regions.
The provision of the space is in line with the Thai Chamber of Commerce decision to have the private sector help relieve the government’s burden in controlling the pandemic and creating ‘herd immunity’ against the COVID-19 disease and allows Thai people to return to their normal lives and the economy to move forward.
In addition, CPN is hastening its drive to vaccinate its employees and shop personnel, introducing measures to help business partners survive the impact on the economy and implement recovery plans by the end of this year.
Mr. Preecha Ekkunagul, President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Pattana Plc., said: “Hasty and widespread vaccination of the public is the key to resolving the situation and allowing people and the economy to return to normalcy. We are ready to facilitate the mass vaccination by offering spaces at our shopping centres, which are large, convenient and operated with efficiency under public health measures, for use as sites for nationwide vaccination.”
“We also plan to speedily procure and provide vaccines for our employees and shop personnel who service customers while supporting the vaccine procurement initiatives of the private sector, which can help relieve the government’s burden. We wish to help the country achieve herd immunity and strengthen the public health system against the disease as soon as possible.”
Ms. Wallaya Chirathivat, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Central Pattana Plc., said: “In a time of crisis such as the current pandemic, it is critical that we prioritise public safety and health. However, it is also essential for us to create balance and simultaneously help the government sustain the economy. This has led to us creating a three-pronged roadmap for this situation, to support businesses, restore confidence and move the economy forward, so we can pass through this challenging time together.”
Central Pattana Public Company Limited’s three point action plan
1. Central Pattana will offer spaces at its shopping centres as sites for mass vaccination which will be key for people and the economy to return to normalcy in the long term.
1.1 Central Pattana studied the possibilities and concluded that it is ready to offer spaces at 23 out of 33 shopping centres around the country as sites for public vaccination. This will facilitate and accelerate mass vaccination programmes covering all regions of the country. Central Rayong, which has already been used as a vaccination site in cooperation with Rayong Hospital since April 2021, will be used as the model for efficient management.
1.2 CPN supports urgent vaccination of its employees and shop personnel. The pilot phase has started at Central Phuket where service personnel have begun to receive the vaccination. Central Phuket will be the first shopping centre with 85% of the employees receiving the second COVID-19 vaccination shots within May 2021, which is higher than the 70% vaccination rate believed to be sufficient in creating herd immunity. Central Phuket will be the first shopping centre with vaccinated service personnel and will join hands with Phuket Province in providing a role model for recovery of businesses in the retail and tourism sectors in the province.
CPN is determined to help relieve the government’s burden and be an active participant in creating herd immunity for the country, thereby allowing Thai people and the Thai economy to move forward, using the following strengths:
- Central shopping centres cover all regions of the country, while each of them plays a key role as the centre for the local community and is ready to become a provincial vaccination centre for mass vaccination. Central Pattana currently operates 33 shopping centres, consisting of 15 in Bangkok and surrounding areas and 18 in other provinces. Each of the shopping centres has been cooperating and working closely with local government agencies and can help them streamline the vaccination process in addition to providing a venue.
- Central shopping centres have the capability to manage their spaces with efficiency, cleanliness and safety. Many of them has a large convention hall that can service large numbers of staff and the public, while maintaining social distancing measures and preventing overcrowding.
- Under the master plan “Central’s Hygiene & Safety”, the shopping centres maintain the highest safety measures, including 1) strict screening, 2) upgraded social distancing measures in all areas, 3) safety tracking measures, 4) Deep cleaning with attention to cleanliness in all surface areas, and 5) touchless experience. Furthermore, , to boost confidence and convenience for officials and the vaccine recipients, the shopping centres carry out air disinfection by UV-C, frequent disinfection of surface areas with an internationally-certified liquid disinfectant, and frequent disinfection of toilets every 30 minutes.
2. Plans to help Thai people and various businesses during the crisis
2.1 For the over 15,000 partners and shops in Central shopping centres around the country, CPN has provided full and appropriate support on rental arrangements since 2020, helped them utilise omnichannel marketing, including chat & shop, drive-thru and take-away delivery, and rolled out continuous marketing campaigns.
2.2 For entrepreneurs, CPN has provided free spaces for SMEs, farmers, and other groups via Ruam Jai Fruit Market and Revival Market projects with a goal to providing 40,000 square metres in total.
3. Plans to boost confidence, create positive energy and stimulate the economy after the situation is resolved
3.1 To stimulate domestic spending, CPN will help reduce living costs for consumers and push the “Thais Help Thais, Ruam Jai Shop” project at 33 Central shopping centres, joining forces with all partners, including those within Central Group, shops and other leading businesses. In addition, the company will initiate over 100 omnichannel campaigns in the three quarters through the end of 2021.
3.2 Inspired by its success stories in domestic tourism campaigns in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Samui and other areas in early 2021, CPN will utilise cross-value chain business partnerships to stimulate recovery of the tourism, hotel and service sectors. This is expected to boost spending and energise the macro economy and all the businesses that are part of the system.
