Digital needs of SMEs being taught to bankers
THE United Overseas Bank (Thailand) is upgrading the Banker’s Executive Certification Programme offered by Thammasat Business School (TBS) to ensure its business bankers are equipped with the skills necessary to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the digital age.
The programme will focus on providing the bank’s business bankers with the skills to help SMEs digitalise and grow their business. The programme will also continue to include training in other areas, including business and finance management, credit knowledge and trade financing.
With SMEs accounting for more than 80 per cent of employment and 42 per cent of gross domestic product in the country, UOB wants to ensure it can provide the right advice to help SMEs remain competitive in the digital economy, said Sayumrat Maranate, country head of business banking for UOB Thailand.
“Thailand’s economic future hinges on the growth of SMEs,” Sayumrat acknowledges, noting that the bank is already helping SMEs benefit from digital solutions such as UOB BizSmart, a cloud-based integrated digital solution that offers a simple and cost-effective way to manage business administrative processes.
“We have also invested in our people to ensure that they have both the skill sets and mindset to help our SME customers understand technology trends that can help our customers to transform their business and to succeed in the digital era,” said Sayumrat.
Dr Pipop Udorn, dean of Thammasat Business School at Thammasat University, underlined the importance of bankers who understand the specific needs of SMEs.
“SMEs need bankers who understand what it takes to do business in a digital economy and who can help them be more future-ready. This knowledge and competency has implications for how SMEs attain and sustain a competitive advantage,” said Pipop.
Adding digital entrepreneurship to the syllbus of the certification programme will better equip business bankers “to help SMEs achieve and sustain their competitive edge,” he said.
The three-month UOB-TBS Banker’s Executive Certification Programme combines classroom-based study with practical skills training. It was first rolled out in 2017 as part of UOB’s career leadership development programme to encourage continuous training and skills development among its employees. The Bank trained 25 employees last year and expects to train another 25 small business bankers in 2018.
