TCC to strengthen Thai SMES

BANGKOK, July 23 (TNA) - The Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) and the Board of Trade of Thailand (BTT) have agreed to join forces with 31 allied parties to help strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country to keep pace with the digital transformation period currently. TCC Chairman Kalin Sarasin told journalists of the agreement on Monday, saying that the joint move will be conducted through the Thailand Smart Center (TSC). Kalin acknowledged that there are now more than three million SMEs in Thailand currently, accounting for about 99.7 per cent of the country's overall SMEs, employing more than 11.7 million workers, or about 80.3 per cent of the country's total workforce, and earning the Thai economy about 41.1 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) or about 4.8 trillion baht. The TCC chairman stated that realizing the significance of the SMES, TCC and BTT, as well as the 31 allied parties, including 24 private firms, five financial institutes and two educational institutes, will jointly help strengthen them to be accessible to digital platforms and more financial sources for their business expansion in this digital borderless era in order to enhance their business competitiveness. Besides, the SMEs to be strengthened by the joint move include those in the Thai farm sector to enable them to adopt modern technologies for the development of their products and services with more added-values. According to the TCC chairman, more than 200 SMEs will be first strengthened this year, followed by 300-400 more SMEs next year, urging the Thai government to accelerate implementing its measures to also promote and support the country's SMEs concretely. (TNA)