Bloc offers opening for nimble SMEs to exploit
Thai small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) in the auto services, logistics, software and medical
tourism sectors are tipped to see massive growth opportunities once the Asean
Economic Community (AEC) is set up.
Industry Minister M.R. Pongsvas
Svasti said Thailand's service sector, which accounts for 30% of the country's
gross domestic product (GDP), grows by about 10% per year, increasing to 14-17%
when the AEC is set up in 2015.
There are 2.6 million
service-related businesses in Thailand, of which 37% are SMEs.
The comments were made at a
seminar entitled "The AEC and SME Challenges: Next Steps (Phase 3)"
hosted by the Board of Trade and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises
Promotion.
M.R. Pongsvas said as Thailand
plans to produce 2.2 million vehicles this year, a large number of service
centres need to be set up.
Thailand has tens of thousands of
automotive service centres, but there is a large gap between best practices and
service standards used by most companies.
There is an opportunity to set up
auto service centres in Cambodia, which already has three Thai-owned centres.
However, Thai service centres
have never set up standards regarding maintenance.
Modern trade centres follow
step-by-step procedures, said M.R. Pongsvas.
SMEs in the logistics sector need
to look at ways to penetrate the market in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
"Large businesses are
reluctant to invest in these countries due to unclear regulations and
infrastructure development," said M.R. Pongsvas.
He said the Board of Investment
will consider providing incentives on a sectoral basis rather than a zonal
basis at the end of this year.
Logistics will be one of the
sectors reviewed, as fierce competition is likely the next three years due to
Thailand's premium geographical location.
Thailand's logistics sector
generates almost 400 billion baht in revenue per year, totalling 3% of the
country's GDP.
Last year 18,000 logistics
companies were registered, mostly SMEs.
In the software sector, China and
India are key competitors.
The software industry was valued
at 29 billion baht last year, representing 10% growth from 2010.
Embedded software totalled 4.3
billion baht, up by 50%.
Medical tourism will benefit from
ageing societies in visitors' countries, but standards need to be set for the
equipment used, said M.R. Pongsvas.
In another development, SMEs in
Japan's Saitama prefecture are interested in investing in Thailand supported by
the Japanese government's policy of encouraging SMEs to invest overseas.
Saitama is the fifth-largest
prefecture in Japan in terms of GDP, with the automotive and advanced
technology industries the core sectors.
Japanese investment in Thailand
for the first seven months of this year comprised 474 projects totalling 210
billion baht, up from 97 billion baht during the same period last year.
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