Sixth Thai, Japanese business matching held in Bangkok

BANGKOK, February 22 (TNA) - Some 75 Thai and Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those in the automobile and electronic manufacturing sectors, are joining in a business matching activity held at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) here. Soros Sakornvisava, President of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank), told journalists that his SME bank, Japan-based JFC Company and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce or JCC are jointly organizing the 6th Thai-Japanese business matching session to stimulate trade and investment, as well as to restore confidence and to show readiness of business resumption in the Thai economy in the wake of Thailand's massive flooding late last year. Soros acknowledged that the 6th Thai-Japanese business matching focuses on Thai SMEs whose operations certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the internationally-recognized ISO, TS16949 and JIS standards, or those with promising growth potential, projecting that some 200 Thai-Japanese business pairs with their total business value of about 200 million baht will be secured during the event. According to the SME Bank President, Japanese investors appear to have remained confident that Thai business operators can produce goods as agreed, even after the country's flooding crisis late last year. The SME Bank top executive insisted that his bank will continue providing financial support to Thai business operators, targeted at a 10 per cent increase from last year or at 15 billion baht in 2012, to enhance their business opportunities while its allied agencies, like the JCC, the Japan External Trade Organsiation (JETRO), the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) and the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), have agreed to provide advices they need to boost their competitiveness prior to the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 and to help strengthen their regional production networks and marketing links with other potential countries, namely India. (TNA)