FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Exim Bank ‘to be a team player in broadening global trade, investment’

Exim Bank ‘to be a team player in  broadening global trade, investment’

THE EXPORT-IMPORT Bank of Thailand wants to be a team player in Thailand’s effort to expand trade and investment worldwide, said its new president, Pisit Serewiwattana.

“With few branches, we are unable to compete with commercial banks, so we should set a clear policy on delivering total solutions that will not compete with them. We will combine credit facilities with trade and investment insurance to target SMEs,” he said.
Several kinds of businesses are in Exim Bank’s focus. One type is start-ups that rely on innovation, and another is small, high-potential enterprises that have experienced steady growth and are ready to expand at home and abroad.
Another group is enterprises of all sizes that require Exim Bank’s support to add value to their business.
The government has set a strategy to enter “new frontier” markets such as Russia and Africa, while also continuing to focus on Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV). For small and medium-sized enterprises wishing to do business in Africa but seeing it as too risky, Exim Bank is ready to provide loans if the government authorises it to take on the risk, Pisit said.
As for the CLMV region, the bank plans to open representative offices, starting in Myanmar by the end of this year, he said.
Of Thailand’s 30,000 exporting companies, only 1,000 SMEs are active customers of Exim Bank. Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong have told the bank to double the number of active customers in three years, Pisit said.
The bank will focus more on businesses that have been incubated by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank). If such enterprises want to expand abroad, Exim Bank will provide trade insurance to them.
“We hope to broaden our customer base from this collaboration. The export situation is expected to resume growing in the second half of this year, and we believe that the situation will bottom out this year and a full recovery will be seen in 2017,” Pisit said.
He said international trade nowadays had changed from the past. Therefore, Exim Bank should keep up with the ever-increasing pace of changes. The bank is committed to collaborating with all parties to drive the Thai economy forward.
 
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