Bangkok--Nov 2--SET
The Finance Minister, Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak, and the Industry Minister, Mr. Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, presided over the workshop hosted by the MAI (Market for Alternative Investment), the SME Bank, and the Office for SMEs Promotion. The workshop was held on Sunday October 31, 2004, at the Dusit Resort, Pattaya, Chonburi Province. Its purpose was to formulate a ground-breaking 5-year strategic plan for building a Thai entrepreneurial development society
In the morning session, the SME Bank presented its strategic plan, entitled “SME Bank to Become a Bank for Building Thai Entrepreneurial Development Society” to workshop participants. The SME Bank will focus on helping strengthen Thailand’s SMEs.
The Finance Minister said: “The policy for SMEs is one of the government’s most important policies. We’ve almost completed 4-years in office but there still remain many development issues. The SME Bank is not a traditional bank. Therefore, its primary goals should not be to grant as many loans as it can, maximize profits, or avoid bad debts. It should rather focus on helping potential entrepreneurs emerge, survive, and grow stronger.
The SME Bank should restructure itself. The Bank’s personnel shouldn’t focus on lending, but rather create a capable team to more effectively and professionally guide, impart advice, promote, and provide financial support to Thailand’s SMEs. The Bank must employ staff capable of providing advice to potential customers, for example, the software firms, at their sites. Each industry has its own characteristics and thus each industry requires a different kind of advice and support. Each of the bank’s varied types of support must be long-term in nature, much like the support provided by fathers to their sons.”
The Finance Minister also stated that the assessment of the Bank’s success must be in accordance with its new objectives and strategies. Therefore it can no longer be assessed only on its granting of credit. The Bank should focus on building new entrepreneurs by propping them up and assisting them in their searches for additional long-term funding sources.
The SME Bank has successfully achieved its first phase goal by helping the existing SMEs to survive. However, from this second phase on, we need to see further improvements in building up SMEs in selected target industries. These SMEs should be stronger and healthier. They are the ‘Smart SMEs’ which possess a lot of potential and strong innovative ideas, but currently lack the necessary capital or skills. These groups, e.g., the software, restaurant, and food processing businesses, can extend their businesses further across the border as they become stronger.
“To succeed, the SME Bank needs to reform its organizational structure and role as well as improve its operational standards and personnel competency. Most importantly, the executives, staff, and branch managers need to fully understand these changes. It needs to have an SME expert from outside to provide direction in order to be able to forge ahead more efficiently and dynamically.
“Today has been a good start. The bank’s executives and branch managers have actively participated here and have brainstormed to formulate a set of new strategies. The SME Bank’s associates, such as the MAI, the Office of SMEs Promotion and the Industrial Promotion Dept., are also here to learn and share in the discussions. All parties will thus better be able to see the big picture and determine their directions and plans accordingly,” said the Finance Minister.
For more information,
please contact the Corporate Communication Dept.:
Ladawan Kantawong Tel: 0-2229-2036 /
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Nattaporn Boonprapa Tel: 0-2229-2049 End.