SME: Thai hub planned to back stakes from Europe in Asean

To facilitate this, the European Commission has budgeted €2 million (Bt16 million) for the new Bangkok-based European-Asean Business Centre in Thailand (EABC).

Freya Lemcke, international-affairs adviser to the European Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Eurochambres), said many SMEs in the European Union from various sectors would like to start businesses in the region. The EABC will help enterprises start up businesses and conduct more trade with Thailand and other Asean countries in the near future.

The EABC will be officially opened next month, and the €2-million fund will be spent over four years. The centre is aimed at providing market-access support including information about infrastructure, legal analysis, intellectual-property rights (IPR), standards, and consultation on doing businesses in Thailand.

The centre will be the third overseas EU business-support unit. The first was set up in India in 2009, and the second in China last year.

Lemcke said not only large or multinational enterprises would like to do business in Asean, but also SMEs, since the emerging region will provide great opportunity for business growth.

“Large firms can invest anywhere, but SMEs are looking at emerging markets as low-risk, huge opportunities and easy environments,” she said.

Potential businesses for European SMEs’ investment in Thailand and other Asean countries are automobile parts, textiles and garments, tourism, services, information and communications technology, components, and clean-energy development.

However, some concerns remain for European investors, Lemcke noted. These include labour quality, production costs, IPR protection, transparency, complicated local regulations, ownership limits, and public procurement.

According to an EC report, the EU has more than 20 million enterprises, 93 per cent of which are SMEs, which the union defines as businesses that generate less than €10 million a 

year and have fewer than 200 employees.