Bill planned to promote startups

BANGKOK, Aug 18 (TNA) -- The Finance Ministry is working on a bill to facilitate the establishment and operations of startups. Somchai Sujjapongse, permanent secretary for finance, said the bill that would be completely drafted within September would cover many regulations to support startups. They include regulations on co-investment, shares for staff, fund-raising in capital markets, and tax incentives. If it was necessary, the Finance Ministry would also propose special legislation under Section 44 of the interim constitution to support startups, he said. Mr Somchai spoke of the bill while opening the SME-D Scale Up training. The training was aimed at giving knowledge and financial access to small and medium-scaled enterprises and startups in 10 targeted industries, said Mongkon Leelatham, president of SME Development Bank. According to him, the course includes FinTech, solution software, online social media, digital designs, and production improvement. Trainees came from 96 companies. Mr Mongkon said 56 of them were ready to receive loans from his bank right away and the rest could be further trained before accessing its finance. (TNA)