230,000 SMEs hit by Northeast flooding
The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by the flooding in 12 provinces in the Northeast has reached nearly 231,000, according to a survey by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP).
OSMEP said on Monday that 207,672 of the 230,897 SMEs recorded as having been affected are individuals running their own business, 12,827 are community enterprises, and 10,398 are corporate SMEs.
OSMEP’s One-Stop Service Centre is already providing emergency loans for flood-affected SMEs in Sakon Nakhon province, with 21 SMEs having been lent a total of Bt4 million, said the agency’s director-general, Salinee Wangtarn.
Her agency is also open for micro-SMEs and community enterprises to apply for emergency lending for recovering their businesses until the end of next month.
The department will provide interest-free loans of up to Bt200,000 per case to such operators, without the need for applicants to provide collateral, she said.
Larger SMEs can apply for loans of up to Bt1 million, also on an interest-free basis.
