BoT to assist flood victims in NE

BANGKOK, Aug 12 (TNA) -- The Board of Trade of Thailand (BoT) will find ways in the next two weeks to help business operators suffered by severe flood in northeastern Thailand, said BoT chairman Kalin Sarasin. Mr Kalin, also chairman of Thai Chamber of Commerce, said besides assistance to business operators, the BoT will explore ways to distribute goods stored in warehouses and unaffected by the severe flood in 12 northeastern provinces and sell in other regions of the country. Also, Mr Kalin said he would meet with the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (OSMEP) on measures to assist business operators affected by the current flood after the situation has eased. Construction materials are expected to fare well after the flooding problem has returned to normal, said Mr Kalin. Meanwhile, Salinee Wangtan, director of the OSMEP, said gross domestic product (GDP) of small and medium enterprise (SMEs) operators is expected to grow 5 per cent this year, higher than 3.5 per cent of the country’s GDP, although many of them were affected by the flood. This is because many of the SME operators have exported more goods, said Ms Salinee. She said her office is now selecting 100 SME manufacturers for increasing their efficiency, under an assistance given by South Korea which has now set up a Korea desk in Thailand. The Office has also cooperated with the BoT in choosing 730 SME operators in participating in three programmes including boosting efficiency of new operators, an innovation packing for SME and preparations for the operators to cater for the ASEAN Economic Community. (TNA)