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Speaker 1: Hello, because you're a subscriber to this Bloomberg podcast. We

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Speaker 1: thought you'd be interested in a sponsored podcast called The

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Speaker 1: Stewards of Compassion, presented by Begrim and produced by Bloomberg

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Speaker 1: Media Studios. Find out how a vision by a young

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Speaker 1: pioneering pharmacist looking to do good in his new home

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Speaker 1: of Thailand yielded one of Asia's most impactful businesses. We

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Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the first episode of this two part special.

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Speaker 1: Thailand a vibrant economy, the second largest in Southeast Asia

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Speaker 1: with a GDP exceeding five hundred billion dollars, a global

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Speaker 1: tourism magnet while coming over thirty five million travelers each year,

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Speaker 1: and a land of rich cultural heritage stretching back more

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Speaker 1: than eight hundred years. But beyond the bustling markets and

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Speaker 1: the golden temples lies a lesser known story, the rise

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Speaker 1: of a company that began in eighteen seventy eight as

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Speaker 1: a modest pharmacy in Bangkok, introducing Western medicine to the city.

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Speaker 1: That company, Bigrim, as the oldest company in Thailand, is

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Speaker 1: a global powerhouse today, from energy to real estate and

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Speaker 1: transport to healthcare. It has become one of Thailand's most

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Speaker 1: remarkable success stories. In this two part special podcast, Dr

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Speaker 1: Harold Link, chairman of Begrim, takes us on a journey

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Speaker 1: through the company's extraordinary history. How did it survive the

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Speaker 1: turmoil of two World Wars? What does it take to

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Speaker 1: thrive in Thai society for nearly one hundred and fifty years?

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Speaker 1: And what's next for this pioneering conglomerate. That and more

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Speaker 1: in this series At the Heartipital lies a question what

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Speaker 1: keeps a company alive for nearly one hundred and fifty years?

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Speaker 1: For Bgrim, the answer is simple, yet profound. Companies too

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Speaker 1: have a soul.

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Speaker 2: Companies also have a soul? Or can companies go on

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Speaker 2: over hundreds of years even though the people change all

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Speaker 2: the time? Who can call it a corporate culture? And

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Speaker 2: I think there's more to it. There's something like a soul.

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Speaker 1: The Begrim story starts in eighteen seventy eight, with a

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Speaker 1: population of roughly five million people. Thailand was already a

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Speaker 1: well established trading hub. It had exports like rice, tea, sugar,

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Speaker 1: all of which helped to keep the economy alive. The

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Speaker 1: country was also navigating the challenges of turn of the

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Speaker 1: century modernization. It was in these conditions that the Siam

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Speaker 1: Dispensary was established and later taken on by a young

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Speaker 1: German pharmacist, Adolf Link, who had quickly gained the respect

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Speaker 1: of the dispensary.

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Speaker 2: They figured out that what we could contribute best to

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Speaker 2: tae society must make the health spanner. And so about

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Speaker 2: this medicine, it's difficult to mention nowadays when healths ale pervasive,

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Speaker 2: especially in Thailand. Tanland is such a great place for

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Speaker 2: foreigners to come and improve their health. But at that

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Speaker 2: time there were no modern medicines available, and there are

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Speaker 2: some illnesses that you cannot here with hubs. And so

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Speaker 2: that was a great contribution to time society, and that

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Speaker 2: actually has been the guiding principle for Begrim for the

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Speaker 2: last one hundred forty six years. How can we do

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Speaker 2: with something good for society?

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Speaker 1: The modest dispensary didn't take long to make a name

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Speaker 1: for itself, earning recognition not just in the local community,

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Speaker 1: but even among societies elite.

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Speaker 2: We got the coat of arms from King Rama the fifth,

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Speaker 2: already in the very beginning of a company, which is

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Speaker 2: given for outstanding service to the crown. At that time

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Speaker 2: was an absolute monarchy. So we did it to the government,

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Speaker 2: and we're the only company in Thailand that got the

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Speaker 2: coat of arms from King Ram of the fifth.

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Speaker 1: Back then, Thailand was modernizing quickly, and receiving the royal

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Speaker 1: coat of arms put b Grim right at the center

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Speaker 1: of this exciting transformation. By the early nineteen hundreds, Begrim

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Speaker 1: was taking on major infrastructure projects.

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Speaker 2: So we sometimes do things that are different, like we

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Speaker 2: have the first telegraph in Thailand and King Ram of

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Speaker 2: the fifth even wrote about it. We were the first

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Speaker 2: to import radio systems to Thailand. We were among the

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Speaker 2: first to support this now very important hospital which was

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Speaker 2: built by King Ram of the fifth. So you can

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Speaker 2: see that our family always tried to do something good

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Speaker 2: for society and always helpful whenever happened. So they built

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Speaker 2: the biggest infrastructure project in Southeast Asia, one thousand and

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Speaker 2: five hundred kilometers of irrigation canals.

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Speaker 1: Despite challenges, Bigrim continued to operate through both World Wars

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Speaker 1: under the leadership of Herbert Link, Harold's uncle. After the war,

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Speaker 1: Begrim successfully regained its distributorships and expanded its business. Under

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Speaker 1: Herbert Link's leadership, do.

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Speaker 2: You have to have perseverance, And I think that's very

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Speaker 2: strong in our family. We always persevere and no matter

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Speaker 2: what happens, we have a goal and we keep on going.

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Speaker 1: This perseverance became the cornerstone of Begram's post war recovery.

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Speaker 1: After rebuilding began diversifying its operations, Thailand went through a

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Speaker 1: period of rapid industrialization after the war. GDP per capita doubled,

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Speaker 1: rodent rail networks increased, as did life expectancy. Foreign businesses

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Speaker 1: continued to play an important role in the economy.

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Speaker 2: From medicines to building the largest infrastructure project. Sometimes susgest

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Speaker 2: people looking at opportunities and they have the courage to

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Speaker 2: do it.

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Speaker 1: M Kathleen and Kylie Minogue when you're watching MTV. Doctor

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Speaker 1: Link brought that same courage and perseverance when he took

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Speaker 1: over as chairman and CEO in nineteen eighty seven. He

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Speaker 1: led the company as it expanded, especially in power generation.

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Speaker 2: In Thailand, there was no space for being an energy

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Speaker 2: producer until the government opened the opportunity in the early

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Speaker 2: nineteen nineties. When the opportunity showed itself to us for

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Speaker 2: industrial park on one of our friends, Amata. Then we

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Speaker 2: joined and made it happen. So now we are Thaighland's

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Speaker 2: narchest industrial electricity producers outside the government, and we also

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Speaker 2: have the wider distribution network. Now we are active in

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Speaker 2: fifteen different countries. We became active in the Philippines and Vietnam.

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Speaker 2: We built the largest solar plant in Southeast Asia. Thailand,

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Speaker 2: we built the largest hybrid solar on water farm in

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Speaker 2: the world. I made an agreement in Australia with an

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Speaker 2: aboriginal group who didn't want to talk for lawyers, and

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Speaker 2: we got an area in the same size as Singapore

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Speaker 2: to build wind farms and solar farms. In Italy we

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Speaker 2: became very active. We have already over five productivity mega

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Speaker 2: what's the under development. Very fortunate that we could find

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Speaker 2: this most beautiful hydro power plant in the north of California,

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Speaker 2: and now we're actually talking to buy into many more

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Speaker 2: of these hydro power plants. Where we go, we try

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Speaker 2: to become part of the society there and support their causes.

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Speaker 1: While energy became one of Beigram's core businesses, the company

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Speaker 1: never forgot its roots in healthcare. As Thailand's pharmaceutical landscape evolved,

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Speaker 1: so did Beigram's ambitions in this space.

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Speaker 2: We have been in the pharmaceutical business now for one

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Speaker 2: hundred and forty seven years. Only the last about twenty

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Speaker 2: over years we have that pharmaceutical business mainly in a

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Speaker 2: joint venture with pharmaceutical company from Germany Mark, which happens

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Speaker 2: to be the oldest in the world, and we just

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Speaker 2: want to go back to that one. So we wanted

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Speaker 2: to add to the medicines we make with merk and

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Speaker 2: become a producer again. And that is all also a

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Speaker 2: business that we can bring to the work. So that

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Speaker 2: company is already exporting to trendy countries because it has

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Speaker 2: an excellent factory and manufacturing capabilite.

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Speaker 1: In Begram's journey from a small dispensary to a global

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Speaker 1: enterprise is a testament to the company's resilience and its

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Speaker 1: commitment to doing good for society, whether in energy, infrastructure

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Speaker 1: or pharmaceuticals. The company's guiding principle remains the same.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes people ask you do your business, but at the

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Speaker 2: same time you do a lot of what they're called

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Speaker 2: philanthropic work form. This is just one and the same thing,

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Speaker 2: because our businesses should be good for society.

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Speaker 1: We explore the incredible journey of BGRIM from its humble

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Speaker 1: beginnings as a pharmacy in nineteenth century Bangkok to becoming

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Speaker 1: a global conglomerate. Along the way, we saw how resilience, adaptability,

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Speaker 1: and a commitment to doing good helped the company to

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Speaker 1: navigate world wars, economic upheavals, and the ever changing tides

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Speaker 1: of history. But the story doesn't end here. In the

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Speaker 1: next episode, we'll go beyond Begrim's history to uncover its soul,

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Speaker 1: the philosophy that drives its decisions, inspires its people, and

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Speaker 1: shapes its future. From protecting tigers to nurturing talent, and

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Speaker 1: from the four p's to the power of compassion, we'll

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Speaker 1: dive into the heart of what makes Bgrim more than

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Speaker 1: just a business. Join us as chairman, Doctor Linc shares

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Speaker 1: how purpose and compassion fuel a company that continues to

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Speaker 1: thrive after nearly one hundred and fifty years. B Grim

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Speaker 1: empowering the world compassionately. Ya