Further push on exports for SMEs
THE Commerce Ministry has vowed to continue to back the efforts of small and medium-sized enterprises to break into overseas markets.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn has described the SME sector as a key economic engine and one that the ministry sees as vital in helping the country meet its |target for export growth of 5 per cent this |year.
Reflecting the importance of the sector, the ministry has set up a New Economy Academy to help smaller businesses upgrade their capabilities by providing them with training courses to improve their competitiveness. The ministry says the 5 per cent growth goal for 2017 exports will be achieved through a number of strategies.
One of these is the application of the so-called Three New Concepts, which entails the promotion of new products, the tapping of new markets for these products and the identification of new customer groups, such as the elderly and pet lovers.
The ministry says it will continue to encourage SMEs businesses to export their products and invest overseas, with mentoring provided by the big corporates that have experience with foreign investment.
It will also try to achieve the free-trade deals and strategic partnerships for each of the industrial sectors in order to facilitate trade and investment at the sector level.
Other efforts include the staging of exhibitions to woo foreign buyers, including Thaifex World of Food from May 31 to June 4 and the Thailand Rice Convention, from May 28 to 30.
Additionally, the ministry has launched measures to support community enterprises and community markets to help boost incomes at the grassroots level.
A successful collaboration involves longan farmers in Lamphun province and a producer of concentrated longan juice in the same province.
They have coordinated their efforts to ward off a possible glut of longans in the market. Lamphun is expected to see 120,000 tonnes of longans released into the province this year.
