Bangkok--18 Sep--Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank PCL (SCB) and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) continue to raise best practice standards for Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they sign a memorandum of understanding calling for cooperation on promoting and supporting raising standards for FTI members between 2018 – 2020. In the pipeline are SME loans of some 6 billion baht, total financial solutions, and business knowledge support for capability and competitiveness enhancement. The effort will focus on an intensive training program for raising understanding of the compliance standards for the Revenue Department's single financial account scheme for SMEs nationwide, so that they understand how to prepare financial statements meeting the Revenue Department's standards for sustainable business advantages. SME loans with special credit lines and interest rates are also on offer to promote compliance with the single financial account scheme.
FTI Chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree noted that the FTI and SCB have supported and promoted entrepreneurs across a variety of industrial sectors for over seven years. These efforts have benefited some 10,000 FTI members directly and indirectly through boosting their access to capital and knowledge. The objectives of the cooperation are 1) To promote understanding of related regulatory compliance among FTI members to facilitate their preparation for meeting best business practice standards, 2) To run activities promoting business management and finance knowledge sharing for FTI members and personnel to support their operations, and 3) To provide FTI members with financial access and knowledge of financial and technology management to enhance their business competitiveness.
The FTI's policy this year is to promote start-ups and enhance SMEs primarily by providing them with information about new marketing platforms, to better connect them to international markets, to promote SME access to new financial services like technology financing models, and to foster innovation driven entrepreneurs (IDEs). Emphasis is also placed on supporting entrepreneurs' single financial account preparation and their readiness for the new financial and accounting standards taking effect in 2019. The FTI has informed and motivated entrepreneurs to enter the single account scheme, as well as provided accounting platforms for SMEs to support and upgrade their capabilities as well as for networking business partnerships.
According to SCB Senior Executive Vice President and Head of the SME Segment Pikun Srimahunt, the well-established SCB-FTI cooperation aims to jointly develop the potential of Thai SMEs to strengthen them amid an ever-changing environment. Through the years, SCB and the FTI have organized many projects and activities for entrepreneurs across clusters to share and exchange information and knowledge that can be applied to their businesses. This MoU signing is part of on-going cooperation from 2018 – 2020, with a priority on promoting awareness and understanding of the importance of SME compliance with the Revenue Department's single financial account scheme. Benefits from such compliance include standardized financial statements and accounting data, more opportunities to obtain loans from banks and financial institutions, reducing interest burdens, and eliminating dependency on loan sharks. Effective January 1, 2019, all commercial banks will be required by law to consider financial statements submitted to the Revenue Department as a supporting document when considering SME loans.
To provide knowledge and understanding of the benefits of such compliance, SCB and the FTI through its Small and Medium Industrial Institute (SMI) have partnered with the Revenue Department and the Federation of Accounting Professions of Thailand to conduct a roadshow promoting compliance with the single financial account scheme. It will be an intensive training program providing knowledge about accounting and financial statements preparation standards and solutions to over 1,000 SMEs across industrial clusters nationwide by the end of 2018.
With SCB joining a lending program under the single financial account scheme following the Bank of Thailand's policy, the bank offers secured loans with 5% interest for 2 years for SMEs submitting the same financial accounts filed with the Revenue Department for loan approval. Also on offer is a special campaign of unsecured loans with a credit line up to 50 million baht, as an incentive for SMEs to enter the single account scheme. SCB is confident that the effort will bring a positive light to SME compliance with the Revenue Department's single account scheme.