Japanese SMEs invited to do businesses in Thailand

BANGKOK, August 22 (TNA) - The Department of Industrial Promotion (DIP), under the Ministry of Industry, has invited small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saitama Prefecture of Japan to do businesses in Thailand. Authorities of the Thai agency and of Saitama Prefecture signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation and business matching between SMEs of Saitama and Thailand in Bangkok on Thursday. The MOU covers the exchange of industrial information between both countries and the development of relations between the Thai Ministry of Industry and Saitama Prefecture. Activities to boost the cooperation will include seminars, exhibitions, business conferences and industrial exchanges. The DIP said that it expects the agreement will result in Japanese SMEs' relocating more production into Thailand, as the Japanese government is encouraging Japanese SMEs to do businesses overseas, and that the DIP hopes the Japanese SMEs' arrival will result in more job creation in Thailand and the transfer of knowledge on business administration and industrial technologies from Japan, a world leading industrialized country. Thai Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk, who presided over the signing of the MOU, acknowledged, meanwhile, that Japanese investors had spent over 210 billion baht in Thailand during the first three quarters of the 2013 fiscal year. The minister also foresaw that Japan’s investment in Thailand throughout the 2013 fiscal year should reach 250-300 billion baht, lower than 370 billion baht in the previous fiscal year. (TNA)