The Board of Directors (“the Board”) of GFPT Public Company Limited (“the Company”) realizes the importance of good corporate governance which is the basic fundamental for economics and sustainable growth of business. The good corporate governance promotes confidence of stakeholders including shareholders, customers, employees, and other public organizations; thus, the Board participates to perform its operations with honesty in compliance of the principles of good corporate governance, the Company’s objectives, and the shareholders’ resolution for the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.
The Board set up the good corporate governance policy and guideline for its business operations which will be regularly reviewed and modified in response to its business operations, the regulatory environment, and the applicable laws. The Company’s corporate governance policy is announced to all employees through the Company’s intranet system and also to public through the Company’s website (www.gfpt.co.th) under the “Corporate Governance” section.
The Board of GFPT Public Company Limited has amended the Corporate Governance Principles in accordance with the Criteria of Corporate Governance of The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) under regulation of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, to be a guideline for directors, executives, and employees of the Company, thus, we review and revise the principles of Good Corporate Governance annually to be appropriate with the changes that may occur from the operation, environment, situation, or laws which incorporates the following 5 key principles.
The Board values the rights of shareholders and established a policy to ensure the equitable and fair treatment for
In 2010, the Company held the Annual Ordinary General Meeting on April 29, 2010 at 09.30 a.m. at GFPT tower 312 Rama 2 Road, Bangmod, Jomthong, Bangkok 10150. All 9 directors and the Company’s independent auditor attended the meeting for discussion or answer questions which shareholders may have. The meeting was conducted in the sequences as given in the agenda and the voting was undertaken sequentially according to the agenda. All ballots featuring yes, no, and abstention votes are duly kept as evidence for transparency and verification. Each agenda was approved by the shareholders.
GFPT realizes the equitable fair treatment of all shareholders both majority and minority. At the Annual Ordinary General Meeting, one share was counted as one vote. The Company usually holds the Annual Ordinary General Meeting once a year within 4 months since the last day of the accounting period of the Company as follows:
At the 2010 Annual Ordinary General Meeting, there are totally 120 shareholders consisting of 77 shareholders and 43 proxies attended, accounting for 89,738,474 shares or 71.57%.
In addition to prohibiting any member of the Board, senior management and staff from using information or position for personal benefits, the Company also prohibits its Board Members, senior management and staff from undertaking businesses that is construed to be in direct competition with the Company or related businesses.
Stakeholders include the directors, executives, shareholders, customers, trading partners, and competitors. The Board of Directors has established a policy on fair treatment for each and every stakeholder according to the law or The agreement 47 with the Company. Although each group of stakeholders has different purposes and expectations toward the Company’s business, the Company gives fair treatment for each and every stakeholders. The Company has formulated ethical practices for stakeholders in the written Code of Conduct to be upheld by the guidelines and responsibilities that employees of all levels are expected to act.
In addition, The Board of Directors has developed a mechanism for the participation of stakeholders in corporate governance. Stakeholders are given the opportunity to communicate with the Board and independent directors to express their view for improving the Company’s operations including any complaint through the following channels.
Contact Independent Director
By e-mail: independentdirectors@gfpt.co.th
By fax: 0-2473-8393
By mail:Independent Director
Independent Director
GFPT Public Company Limited
GFPT Tower, 19th Floor, No. 312
Rama II Road, Bangmod, Jomthong, Bangkok 10150
Contact Board of Directors
By e-mail: boardofdirectors@gfpt.co.th
By fax: 0-2473-8393
By mail:Board of Directors
GFPT Public Company Limited
GFPT Tower, 19th Floor, No. 312
Rama II Road, Bangmod, Jomthong, Bangkok 10150
The Company strictly keeps all complaints or the complainant in confidential. Acceptance of the complaint or investigation procedures is set out. The information regarding complaints is accessible only to the persons assigned and involved. The management division will collect any complaint and present to the audit committees to consider. While the employees can post comments and suggestions through e-mail of the Company directly.
For employees, the Company provides other benefits exceeding those stated by laws such as personal accident and health insurance for particular functions such as salesman, IT administrators, and provincial employees; reimbursement for uniform; and other welfare. In addition, the Company focuses on safety of its employees by having fire extinguishers checked and cooperating with the building administrator in conducting fire drill once a year. Especially, the Company provides training for new employees to improve basic knowledge for primary problem solving.
In addition, the Company realizes the importance of effective and efficient business operations based on social responsibility and environmental protection. Therefore, the Board highly participate in the environmental and social responsibility activities and encourages all staffs to make the best use of environmental resources, minimize waste, reuse resources, and act responsibly towards society by running a business and operating in accordance with governing laws; avoiding any illegal entrepreneur or affected to the environment both direct and indirect way. The Company encourages employees to join CSR activities including participation in blood donation and grant tuition assistance to its employee for child’s educational support.
In 2010, the Company provides financial support in several CSR projects including (1) the scholarship award for essay writing contest under the topic “One people, One idea, to Protect the Global Warming” to cultivate the awareness of environment conservation, (2) the Novice Ordination Charity Project, (3) the food support program for children on National Children’s Day, (4) the donation to educational purposes such as educational equipment and stationery and school maintenance, (5) the donation to support temple construction and maintenance, (6) the donation to the Alkawthar Foundation, etc. Apart from providing financial support in charity projects; the Company also encourages its employees to be part of the CSR activities and to promote the environment awareness and act responsibly towards society.
The Board of Directors discloses all important information relevant to the Company, both financial and non-financial, correctly, accurately, on a timely basis and transparently through easy-to-access channels that are fair and trustworthy e.g. the SET’s channel in form of “Annual List of Information” (Form 56-1) and “Annual Report” (Form 56-2), or the Company’s web site (www.gfpt.co.th), both Thai and English language as alternative channels for investors to have equitable access to information. The Company further reports on the responsibility of the Board of Directors for the financial statements which appear together with the audited report of the certified public accountant in the annual report.
In 2010, the Company fully complied with the disclosure rules and regulation set out by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). At present, the Company has assigned the Company Secretary and the investor relation department staffs to provide information and communicate with investors including institutional shareholders, minority shareholders, stock analysts, and relevant government agencies which can be contacted through investor relation department at telephone number 02-473-8000. For further information, please visit Company’s website. The Company also organizes Analyst Meetings twice a year to clarify and present business performance. In 2010, GFPT held 2 Analyst Meetings on 16 June 2010 and 23 November 2010. The Company also held one-on-one meetings when needed.
The Board of Directors shall comprise of not less than 5 directors and no fewer than half of these board members shall be based within the Kingdom and be qualified in accordance with the Articles of Association in compliance with the Public Company Limited and related laws and shall comprise of not less than 3 independent directors and no fewer than one-third of these board members. Thus, the Chairman of the Board of Directors shall not hold the office of Chairman or member of any sub-committees, and shall be a separate person from the President.
As of 31 December 2010, GFPT Public Company Limited has a total of 9 directors, consisting of:
| 1) Directors | 6 | person |
| 2) Independent Directors | 3 | person |
GFPT Public Company Limited has determined the minimum qualifications for a director pursuant to the Chapter 4, Article 17 of the Articles of Association in compliance with the Public Company Limited Act B.E. 2535 and the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance required by the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Therefore, the Company has set additional qualification and prohibition for directors of the GFPT Public Company Limited as follows:
An independent director or audit committee director must have the additional qualifications:
The “business relationship” aforementioned includes any normal business transaction, rental or lease of immovable property, transaction relating to assets or services, or grant or receipt of financial assistance in the amount of 3 percent or more of the net tangible assets of the Company or more than 20 million Baht which is lower. The transaction amount shall be calculated according to the calculation method for transaction value of connected transactions under the Notification of the Board of Governors of the Stock Exchange of Thailand Re: Disclosure of Information and Act of Listed Companies concerning the Connected Transaction. The transaction amount includes any amount incurred during 1 year prior to the date on which the business relationship with the person commences.
However, after being nominated to be an independent director of GFPT, he or she may be assigned by the Board of Director to take part in the business decision of GFPT, its subsidiaries, its associated companies, same-level subsidiaries, major shareholder, top management or related companies which may have conflicts of interest on the condition of collective decision.
To achieve effective performance, the Board of Directors has established the policy and procedures for directors to hold directorship positions in not more than 5 listed companies, except Chairman of Executive Committee and Managing Director, not more than 3 listed companies because the executive positions have great importance on business administration which may affect their effective performance.
The Company has the policy to make a clear distinction between the Chairman and Managing Director. The Chairman takes the role of leader for the Board to define the policies of the directors, the direction of business operations and as support to the management to perform the duties in accordance with the Company’s policies. Meanwhile, the President enacts the policies from the Board into effective practice.
The Chairman should have the following qualifications
The Company has set up supporting committees to assist in the study and screening of relevant issues requiring fair judgment and has defined the scope, authority and responsibility of each committee. The majority members of each committee must be independent directors and the Chairman of the committee should be an independent director.
At present, the GFPT has the following supporting committees:
The Board of Directors has appointed the Audit Committee with a term of service of 3 years. The Audit Committee comprises 3 independent directors. At least one of the committee members must have dependable knowledge in accounting and finance. Members shall have qualifications relevant to independence pursuant to the SET notification. The qualifications and scope of performance of the Audit Committee shall allow supervision of the Company’s business operations, financial reports, internal control systems, selection of external auditors, and consideration of conflicts of interest and preparation of the Corporate Governance report. The Audit Committee has the following duties and responsibilities:
The Board of Directors has appointed the Nomination and Remuneration Committee with a term of service of 3 years. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee is composed of 5 directors. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee has the following duties and responsibilities:
The Board of Directors ensures a clear distinction between the Board of Directors and the Management for independence and maximum benefit of the Company and shareholders.
The Company sets policy as the leader of the integrated further production of livestock and agriculture. The Company undertakes to provide food safety products and traceability. The Company is committed to operating the business with environmental friendliness and contributing to society at large. Therefore, the Company has assigned the management to formulate targets, strategies, plans and budgets in accordance with the set policies.
GFPT Public Company Limited realizes the importance of good corporate governance, the Company has established a written manual of Corporate Governance Principles and schedules a meeting at least once a year to review these policies and observe compliance with the set policies.
With the commitment to develop its business legally and ethically, the Company has written a manual of the Code of Conduct for all level of employees to acknowledge and understand the standard of conduct according to the expectations of the Company and shareholders. The Company has also established the Code of Conduct Committee to follow up such issues and report to the Board of Directors at least once a year.
The Company has the policy to have all levels of employees perform their duties for the maximum benefit of the Company without any related personal gain. The Board of Directors has stipulated the guidelines and code of conduct for the directors, executives and employees in Chapter 2 of the Manual of the Code of Conduct as follows:
The Board of Directors has appointed an Audit Committee to supervise and monitor internal audit management. The Internal Audit Department is responsible for the Company’s internal control system under the supervision of the Audit Committee.
The Board of Directors stipulates that the Internal Audit Department and the external auditor shall have a meeting with the Audit Committee at least four times a year to report the results of internal control management and the previous financial statement audited by the external auditor. The Audit Committee shall conclude the result of the audit and report to the Board of Directors.
The Company has defined the risk management policy for various aspects of business in the following steps:
The Board of Directors shall evaluate the performance of the Managing Director officially at least once a year based on the evaluation criteria set by the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Thai Institute of Directors.
The Company schedules Board meetings on the last Thursday of every month. The meeting schedule is set out in advance and each director shall be notified of the schedule. However, the schedule of meetings can be changed based on the significance of the agenda items to be considered.
For the year 2009, the directors attended the meeting as following:
| No. | Name | Title | Meeting in 2010 | ||
| Board of director meeting total 11 meetings/year |
Audit Committee meeting total 4 meetings/year |
Nomination & Remuneration meeting total 1 meeting/year |
|||
| 1 | Mr. Prasit Sirimongkolkasem | Chairman | 9/11 | - | - |
| 2 | Mr. Virach Sirimongkolkasem | Vice Chairman and Managing Director |
11/11 | - | - |
| 3 | Dr. Anan Sirimongkolkasem | Chairman of Executive Committee and Deputy Managing Director |
11/11 | - | 1/1 |
| 4 | Dr. Sathit Karanes | Chairman of Audit Committee and Independent Director |
11/11 | 4/4 | 1/1 |
| 5 | Mr. Paramet Hetrakul | Director of Audit Committee and Independent Director |
11/11 | 4/4 | 1/4 |
| 6 | Mr. Thanathip Pichedvanichok | Director of Audit Committee and Independent Director |
11/11 | 4/4 | 1/1 |
| 7 | Mrs. Somsiri Ingpochai | Executive Director | 10/11 | - | - |
| 8 | Ms. Wannee Sirimongkolkasem | Director | 10/11 | - | - |
| 9 | MR. Sujin Sirimongkolkasem | Director | 11/11 | - | 1/1 |
The Chairman will determine the agenda together with the Managing Director and plans the agenda in advance to give time for production of agenda documents and to ensure that all the directors receive the documents before the meeting date so that they will have enough time to study and consider the issues on the agenda.
The Board of Directors assigns the Company Secretary to prepare and send the board documents to directors so that they will have enough time to study and consider the issues on the agenda.
The Chairman will allocate enough time to consider the issues in each agenda point of the meeting.
The Board of Directors encourages inviting senior managers to attend the Board’s meetings to provide additional insights into the items being discussed because of their personal involvement in these areas and gives opportunity to the management to know the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors will have access to additional necessary information from the Managing Director, the Company Secretary and any other assigned executive management.
The Board of Directors encourages the directors who are not executives to hold a special meeting. This was put in place for the non-executive directors who are members of the Audit Committee and independent directors. The meeting is scheduled at least 4 times a year.
The Board of Directors has arranged to have the Company Secretary take charge of consultations regarding directors’ activities in accordance with the relevant laws, rules and regulations, and monitoring the director’s activities and coordinating with directors to comply with the Board’s resolutions. At present, the Board of Directors appoints Ms. Jutamas Ingpochai as the Company Secretary.
The Board of Directors shall arrange the evaluation of the Board’s performance annually through self-discussion in order to enhance the efficiency of their work. Evaluation shall be made during the Board’s first meeting in the following year.
At 20 January 2011, The Board of Directors had evaluated the performance of the whole Board of Directors of 2010 based on evaluation of SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand) that the result has reached to the satisfactory level.
The Board of Directors has set the directors’ remuneration, for which the Nomination and Remuneration Committee will screen and consider before submission to the Board for further proposal to the shareholder’s meeting for approval.
GFPT paid the remuneration for directors in 2010 as follows:
As of 31 December 2010, the total remuneration for 9 persons is 4,225,000 baht in the form of monthly remuneration and bonus. The details are as follows:
| Name | Title | Remuneration per Year |
| 1. Mr. Prasit Sirimongkolkasem | Chairman of the Board of Directors | 520,000 Baht |
| 2. Mr. Virach Sirimongkolkasem | Vice Chairman and Managing Director | 455,000 Baht |
| 3. Dr. Anan Sirimongkolkasem | Chairman of Executive Committee and Deputy Managing Director |
455,000 Baht |
| 4. Dr. Sathit Karanes | Chairman of Audit Committee and Independent Director | 520,000 Baht |
| 5. Mr. Paramet Hetrakul | Director of Audit Committee and Independent Director | 455,000 Baht |
| 6. Mr. Thanathip Pichedvanichok | Director of Audit Committee and Independent Director | 455,000 Baht |
| 7. Mrs. Somsiri Ingpochai | Executive Director | 455,000 Baht |
| 8. Ms. Wannee Sirimongkolkasem | Director | 455,000 Baht |
| 9. Mr. Sujin Sirimongkolkasem | Director | 455,000 Baht |
As of 31 December 2010, the company had 5 executives and paid 18,586,290 baht for salary and bonus.
-None-
The Board of Directors has assigned the Company Secretary to make orientation for new directors to be informed of their duties and responsibilities. This orientation will include presentations by senior management on the Company’s information about business operations.
The Board of Directors requires the Managing Director to make available the succession plan for the Company’s uninterrupted operation. In this connection, an executive development program is arranged annually.
The Board of Directors has encouraged the training and provision of knowledge for directors, Audit Committee members, corporate security and other senior management to allow on-going improvement of performance of duties for a higher level of efficiency