Assistance provided to Thai SMEs

BANGKOK, May 12 (TNA) - Realising that production costs have risen due to increased wages and oil prices, Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Siriwat Kajornprasart has ordered his ministry’s Department of Business Development to find ways in assisting local small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs). The department’s Deputy Director-General Wichai Phochanakij said Saturday that initially, his department will, among others, organise seminars to boost sales of local electronics SMEs by using online services, noting that such the services will incur costs much lower than opening shops. Wichai suggested that local SMEs attending the course will have an opportunity to learn innovative online service markets such as the Search Engine Optimisation, e-mail Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Google Analytics and other necessary techniques. The senior official cautioned that the Thai SMEs are expected to be hard hit initially, compared with other Thai businesses, following the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015; so, they should learn more how to explore new markets. (TNA)