Bangkok--Sep 16--KASIKORNBANK
Bright prospects seem to lie ahead for Thailand’s mould and die industry that is competing well with foreign rivals. KASIKORNBANK has recently introduced financing for mould and die SMEs to develop their businesses, with interest rates lower than those of leasing companies. The Bank has set a target to provide Bt600 million in credit for this industry this year.
Mr. Pipit Aneaknithi, First Vice President, Retail Commercial Credit Product and Marketing Department, revealed that the Bank is offering mould and die business SMEs financing to support them with long-term loans, overdrafts (O/D), promissory notes (P/N) and Letters of Indemnity (L/I). These credit can be used for developing, expanding and improving their businesses as well as the purchase of new machinery.
Minimumcredit offered are equal to Baht 1 million while no credit ceiling is set. Borrowers must have been in mould and die business for at least two years. Interest rates charged by the Bank will be in the range of MLR-1 percent to MRR+2.75 percent. Currently, the MLR stands at 5.50 percent and the MRR, 6.0 percent. Installment periods as long as five years are allowed. For the first year of this promotion, the Bank set a target of Bt600 million in financing.
Mould and die business financing is one of the Bank’s strategies to provide credit to SME businesses that directly penetrate specific customer groups. This service will help the mould and die industry to obtain financial support at lower cost; as in the past, most businesses in this industry used leasing companies as a source of funding to purchase new machinery, with loans that were calculated at a flat rate, while the Bank will be charging an effective rate that will be, overall, lower.
Mr. Pipit revealed that the mould and die industry is a core industry for other manufacturing businesses, because moulds are used to form industrial products of many types such as those made of plastic and rubber, as well as components of electrical appliances and automobiles, etc. The mould and die industry is one of Thailand’s high potential industries that can be developed to compete strongly with other countries.
Although at present, Thailand still suffers a trade deficit in the mould and die industry with an export value of around Baht 2 billion per annum — and important export markets in Japan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam — moulds and dies are imported each year worth more than Baht 20 billion per annum. Most moulds and dies are imported from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Therefore, developing the mould and die industry will help reduce imports, and increase exports of mould and die products. End.
--InfoQuest (NT)--