Thailand to roll out SME fund

BANGKOK, July 13 (TNA) -- Thailand pushes for rolling out the remaining 80 billion baht of fund to help the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) this year, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak says on Wednesday. After chairing a meeting with several state agencies, financial institutes and private sector organizations, Somkid said it was an effort to sprout SMEs by promoting SMEs access to funding sources. The funding was a collaboration of the Finance and Industry ministries using the mechanisms of three state banks – Government Savings Bank (GSB), SME Development Bank, Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) and Krungthai Bank (KTB). Of the total of Bt100 billion fund managed by TCG, only Bt1.7 billion had been granted to SMEs, he said. Therefore, the Thursday meeting was aimed at finding measures to facilitate SMEs to utilize the remaining Bt80 billion of fund, he addd. Mr Somkid said the measures would prioritize on SMEs who export their products to CMLV countries. The Thai government has encouraged individuals to start up their own businesses as tourism and services are growing quickly. Government-run banks offer packages to accommodate the three SME stages – SME beginners, SMEs that are shifting to 4.0 and SMEs that have potential but are facing hardships. The assistance measures also include tax incentives for SMEs. (TNA)