Bangkok--6 Oct--GIZ
Through environmentally friendly resources management and efficient use of energy, the European Union (EU)-funded project titled 'Greening Supply Chains in the Thai Auto and Automotive Parts Industries' has greatly improved the production processes of auto and automotive parts of Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Altogether, 502 Thai factories participating in the project and 452 factories could reduce their production cost by 292,559,212 million THB (€7.3 million). The factories' energy use (electricity, gas and petrol) is also reduced by 71,116,231 million megajoules in total. Solid waste (defective workpieces and scrap) is reduced by 3,952 metric tons which can convert to Green House Gas (GHG) reduction for over 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) per year.
The 45-month project received financial support of €1,592,000 from the EU's SWITCH-Asia Programme and is co-funded and implemented by five partners including GIZ (a German agency for international cooperation), Thailand Automotive Institute, Thai SME Bank, the Federation of Thai Industries and the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Center on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
At the project closing ceremony recently hosted by the Ministry of Industry and the EU, Ms. Atchaka Sribunruang, Minister of Industry said "the Greening Supply Chains in the Thai Auto and Automotive Parts Industries Project is in line with the commitment of Ministry of Industry to become a green manufacturing base in Asia. The government has selected automotive industry as the main sector to be promoted as "Super Cluster" which focuses on creating value added along supply chains to increase the competitiveness for the country. We worked closely with the project to improve sustainable production of SMEs in the Thai auto and automotive parts supply chains. The application of environmental and energy tools to improve production efficiency was promoted through trainings services on cleaner and sustainable production measures as well as comply to environmental related standard and regulation. In addition, the project assisted them in accessing capital for improving production processes that help reduce environmental impacts.
Ms. Jesús Miguel Sanz, Ambassador, EU Delegation to Thailand said "SWITCH Asia programme is one of the European Union's financial instruments to support countries in Asia in promoting sustainable consumption and production. Ran for almost four years, the project has increased productivity, environmental, and energy management performance with active participation of 502 Thai SMEs. In addition, the project supported 78 SMEs to apply for the Green Industry Mark. The satisfactory result is due to a good cooperation from partners and key stakeholders, including the major car makers, trade associations, banks, and service providers. Good practices and lesson learned from the project implementation will be further disseminated for a wider scaling up of sustainable production in the current sector and possibly in other sectors.
PHOTO SHOWS (FROM LEFT)
Mr. Christoph Mairesse, Acting Country Director of GIZ Thailand
Mr. Chaisiri Vichailak, Department Director of Thailand Automotive Institute
Dr. Atchaka Sribunruang, Minister of Minstry of Industry
Mr. Jesús Miguel Sanz, Ambassador of EU Delegation to Thailand
Mr. Michael Grewe, Chairperson of Automotive Working Group, European – ASEAN Business Center and CEO of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand), Co., Ltd.
Dr. Milou Beerepoot, Project Director of GIZ Thailand