Presented below is the third release of the Berli Jucker Public Company Limited Year 2000 Compliance Report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand as at 31 January 1999. In summary, the preparations of the Berli Jucker Public Company Limited and subsidiary companies to achieve Y2K Compliance are progressing well. The Company has planned to achieve Y2K Compliance by mid 1999. The management is confident that this project will be completed as targeted and that the Berli Jucker and subsidiary companies will be able to move smoothly into the next millennium. Project Timetable - Berli Jucker Compliance testing of applications software Status ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIS - Order Processing, Inventory Control, Compliant Accounts Receivable, and Cost of Goods Testing completed 30/4/98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Payroll / HRM compliance testing Compliant Testing completed 31/3/98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oracle OLAP package Already compliant ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Systems and database products Already compliant ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Examination & correction of spreadsheets Completed by end of December 1998 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORACLE Financial Applications Already complaint ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Compliance testing for embedded devices Completed by end of April 1998 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check compliance programs of our trading partners On-going ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upgrade of PC's and PC software Will be complete by the end of March 1999. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Develop contingency plan to cover unforeseen 1st draft complete. problems internally or with our trading partners. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subsidiary Companies Cellox Paper Company Limited Cellox have confirmed that their computer hardware and software has been tested and is compliant. The majority of the manufacturing equipment contains no Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) devices. All equipment containing PLC has been tested and is compliant. Thai Glass The Thai Glass plans to achieve Y2K compliance are well advanced. Examination and correction of all manufacturing equipment is complete. The upgrading of computer hardware and software will be complete by the end of March 1999. The upgrading of manufacturing equipment with the last non-compliant PLC device will be completed during the second quarter 1999. Rubia Industries An inventory of all manufacturing equipment has been produced. The analysis of these embedded systems is complete. Upgrades to the MRPII software package and associated computer hardware are in progress. These will be completed by the end of March 1999. Compliance for all production equipment and the PABX system will be achieved by 31 June 1999. Thai-Scandic Steel Company Limited Y2K Compliance testing of all communications and computer systems is complete. Testing and upgrading of manufacturing equipment containing PLC devices is continuing with the equipment suppliers. Thai Fluorspar Compliance testing for all PC based systems is complete. Polipharm Company Limited Polipharm have no manufacturing equipment that contains PLC devices. Existing non-compliant Personal Computers and associated software are being replaced. Siam Snack Company Limited Compliance testing for all PC based systems has been completed. Non-compliant PCs are being upgraded. An inventory of all manufacturing equipment has been produced. Twelve of the twenty- one pieces of equipment contain no PLC devices. Siam Snack is working with the suppliers of the remaining equipment to ensure compliance. Thai Klinipro Company Limited An inventory of all equipment has been completed and the business criticality assessed. The majority of the manufacturing equipment is simple and does not contain PLC devices. All of the specialized equipment is compliant. Thai Klinipro are upgrading their accounting and payroll packages to ensure compliance. Project Budget & Expenditure The total budget to achieve Y2K Compliance for Berli Jucker is Baht13,500,000. For the period January - July 1998 Baht5, 500,000 has been spent to upgrade and replace essential computer hardware and software. A further Baht3,300,000 will be spent on PC equipment and software by February 1999 to complete the project. Risks/Issues The only outstanding work that is required by Berli Jucker to complete its preparations for Y2K is the purchase and installation of new personal computers. Our two major Thai Bankers, Bangkok Bank and The Thai Danu Bank have provided positive information regarding their respective projects to ensure Y2K compliance. Encouraging newspaper articles regarding the progress of the compliance initiatives from the Telephone Authority of Thailand and the Communications Authority are welcomed. The major area of concern for Berli Jucker is the level of compliance of our major utility providers. Although the following organizations are all active in preparing for Y2K there are concerns that they will have completed the required work on time. These organizations are: Ministry of Transport Metropolitan Water Authority Metropolitan Electricity Authority None of the above have responded to the Berli Jucker questionnaire requesting information regarding their plans for compliance. While it is believed that most of these organizations will achieve compliance by the third or forth quarter 1999 this is too late to satisfy the warranty and certification requirements of many of our trading partners. The first draft of the contingency plan to cover unforeseen problems internally or with our trading partners has been completed. Work is continuing to produce detailed action plans to minimize the impact of potential problems caused by the non-compliance of our major suppliers.