Additional B850m budget to assist SMEs

The government has introduced an additional budget of 850 million baht to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The new budget aims to support 30 projects and 13,000 companies, said Pasu Loharnjun, director-general of the Department of Industrial Promotion (DIP).

“The government has many projects to support SMEs in the hope of stimulating the country’s economy. The Industry Ministry plays a leading role in helping SMEs,” he said.

According to the plan, the Industry Ministry wants to help SMEs create up to 6 billion baht in economic value this year. The figure is expected to rise to 7 billion in 2017 and 10 billion in 2021.

To achieve the goal, the ministry created a method to help cut operation costs as well as increase SME sales, said Mr Pasu.

Tentatively, the ministry expects the plan should help cut operation costs by at least 6% and raise sales revenue by 9%, he said.

The DIP has been working on promoting and supporting around 3,000 SMEs per year.

This year the ministry plans to promote SMEs via its Start, Strong and Sustain project, expecting to assist up to 7,200 businesses.

The ministry conducted a survey of 4,833 SMEs in 14 industries concerning the major problems they face. Those problems are lack of technology and innovation, inefficient production systems, poor marketing strategy, conflicts with nearby communities, and developing raw materials and human resources.

“Most SMEs have little experience running a business, which meant some went out of business,” Mr Pasu said. “The government wants to support SMEs so they will become stronger and expand their business appropriately.”

In a separate development, the Commerce Ministry yesterday launched Thaitrade.com Sook (small order OK), a B2C (business-to-consumer) extension from Thaitrade.com, which is a B2B (business-to-business) online platform.

Sook was established to serve the demand of international buyers who want to make small purchase orders prior to the commitment of bulk buying.

Sellers on Thaitrade.com Sook are handpicked and verified by the government in order to give buyers peace of mind.

Customers can place orders on selected Sook items and make payments directly on Thaitrade.com.

Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said Sook, which was developed through a partnership with Bangkok Bank, DHL Express International and PayPal, the leading international payment service provider, aims to help enable Thai SMEs to sell their products online.

The ministry expects Sook will increase the customer base of Thaitrade.com by 5,000 within six months and online transaction value by 1 billion baht from 2.1 trillion now.