Meeting to discuss helping SMEs

Meeting to discuss helping SMEs

The Joint Standing Committee on Industry, Commerce and Banking (JSCICB) will meet on Nov 5 to discuss measures to help manufacturers affected by the wage hike policy, Pongsak Assakul, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said on Wednesday.

The JSCICB will discuss ways to provide assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are likely to be severely hurt by the 300 baht daily minimum wage, which will take effect in the remaining 70 provinces from Jan 1.

The minimum wage was increased to 300 baht a day in April in the country's seven most developed provinces: Bangkok, Phuket, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Sakhon.

Mr Pongsak said the TCC had earlier asked the government to provide training courses to improved skills of workers in 10 industrial groups.

However, the TCC wanted the government to provide additional financial assistance for SMEs, by offering low interest soft loans to ensure that the affected manufacturers would have sufficient liquidity to buy new machinery  needed to improve production, he said.

Mr Pongsak said the TCC does not oppose the wage hike plan, as it is a major policy publicly announced by the government.

He said the TCC just wanted to send a signal to the government that the policy could severely hurt the business sector, particularly the SMEs in the 70 provinces.

The SMEs in these provinces wanted the government to delay the wage increase, or to introduce it gradually  over the next few years instead.

TCC chairman warned that a sudden nationwide increase in the daily minimum wage to 300 baht could discourage investors from applying for investment privileges with the Board of Investment for their projects in these provinces as logistical costs there are higher than in Bangkok and its vicinity.

He believed that the cabinet reshuffle would not lead to any change in the government’s economic policy because Kittiratt Na-Ranong is still head of the economic team.

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