Osmep wants SMEs' portion of GDP to hit 40% by 2016
THE OFFICE of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion has revised the target for SMEs' contribution to gross domestic product to 40 per cent by 2016, up from 38 per cent in the existing 2012-16 SME-promotion plan, said Osmep director Patima Jeerapaet.
He said a strategy on how to accomplish this would be complete within six months.
The current SME contribution to GDP is around 37 per cent.
The office also aims to turn Thailand into a regional SME hub by 2017, which he said would not be hard to achieve thanks to the country’s favourable investment climate in the eyes of Japanese and European businesses. It will also create an Asean SME trading centre in Thailand.
Osmep will also encourage SMEs to increase trading activities in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos through collaboration with the Board of Investment.
The office will also adjust its system of monitoring the country’s 2.7 million SMEs by updating their information every month instead of every quarter to gain a more timely grasp of their problems.
Osmep has worked with the World Bank to create a new five-year (2017-21) SME-promotion plan with the aim of boosting their GDP contribution to 42 per cent.
Patima said the World Bank had already helped China lay out a plan to develop its SMEs and was in talks with South Korea and Vietnam on a similar effort.
