Thai PM says R&D is vital

BANGKOK, November 26 (TNA) - Reiterating that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) issues have been included as national agenda, Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has urged educational institutes and government agencies to also attach importance to research and development (R&D). The Thai prime minister made the remarks in Bangkok on Wednesday while presiding over the signing ceremony of an agreement between many Thai government agencies on a joint target of creating new 10,000 SMEs in the country within 2018. The prime minister, who is also Chief of the Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), also noted that his government has set SMEs issues as national agenda as they are both the root for the national economy and the global community; so, a clear roadmap is needed in moving them forward. According to the Thai prime minister, the SMEs issues include an easy access to capital and other significant factors of production, covering technological transfer and an increase in R&D. Under the national agenda, the Thai premier elaborated, local SMEs could be divided into three groups, the first group of which comprises those who have launched their businesses for more than three years and they need to be further strengthened by being provided with more knowledge and support to access to sources of capital easier. The second group are debt-saddled SMEs and they need help to resolve their financial problems, while the last group comprises old SMEs that need more knowledge. The Thai premier vowed that registrations of some three million SME players must be completed within 2016 so that further development could be provided for them. The Thai prime minister also called on government agencies to attach importance to providing knowledge and R&D to local SMEs so that they could connect with the regional and the world markets. (TNA)