The Government attaches great importance to the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which play an important role in driving the Thai economy.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha cited SMEs as a major mechanism to generate income and employment for the country. They need to be strengthened in order to maintain economic stability and enhance the country’s competitiveness.
He said that the Government had assigned the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion to join forces in helping SMEs. With their assistance, small enterprises should be developed into medium-sized enterprises and then large enterprises, so that they will be able to enter the global supply chain and operate with greater efficiency.
Targets have been set to increase the GDP of SMEs to 38 percent and the number of SME operators by another 50,000. There are currently more than two million SMEs in Thailand. The SMEs that are receiving a major boost from the Government are those under the "One Tambon, One Product,” or "OTOP” program. There are many OTOP products that need to be improved, in terms of design, so that they would become more attractive.
The Government has also encouraged SME operators to group into clusters. Assistance will be provided to various clusters in order to add value to their products, reduce their production costs, expand their markets, and strengthen their networks.
Meanwhile, Minister of Science and Technology Pichet Durongkaveroj said that science and technology, as well as innovation,
would be able to optimize increases in productivity. Emphasis will be placed on SMEs and community products, or OTOP products. Over the past year, the Ministry of Science and Technology has carried out several projects to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs and community enterprises.
He said that Thailand Science Park and other science parks in the regional areas of the country have been urged to link with the industrial sector, educational institutions, and local communities in order to make use of research and development on a commercial basis.
The Industrial Technology Assistance Program has also been carried out and extended in an effort to strengthen SMEs. The project aims to help SMEs solve their technical problems and meet the challenges in introducing technology-based products and processes.
Efforts will be made to provide more opportunities for Thai SME operators to expand their markets in ASEAN. SMEs are considered integral to the economic development and growth of the ASEAN Member States, as they largely outnumber large enterprises in both the quantity of establishments and the share of the labor force they employ.