Thailand cranks up SME exports mission after barely hitting 50% of target
Thailand’s army of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) accounted for just 10% of total exports last year, barely half the target set in the national strategy, according to the Commerce Ministry.
Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), conceded that the ministry has yet to achieve the goal set in the 20-year national strategy (2018-2037) to raise the value of SME exports to 20% of the total.
Poonpong cited the figures to show that export performance by Thai SMEs has plenty of room to improve.
Figures for the top 50 export goods show that foreign businesses in Thailand were the top export earners last year, accounting for 41.7% or US$107.369 billion.
Joint foreign-Thai businesses accounted for 33.2% or $85.307 billion.
Firms under sole Thai ownership added 24.8% or $63.839 billion.
Poonpong said large corporations dominated export earnings among Thai firms while SMEs constituted only 24%. That figure dropped to 10% as a proportion of the total export value of foreign, Thai and joint-venture firms.
The TPSO is on a mission to push annual exports by Thai SMEs from the current $30 billion to $58 billion, Poonpong said. SMEs in the North and Northeast were the focus of that mission, he added. The two regions have a high number of SME exporters but their combined export earnings are low, so they should receive support from the government to boost their businesses, he explained.
Thailand’s top four highest export earners last year were computers, parts and accessories; air-conditioners and parts; conductors, transistors and diodes; and washers, dryers and parts.
