EXIM Thailand Joins Hands with TCG and Central Lab Thai to Finance SME Exporters and Upgrade Product Standard to Promote Thai Brand Globally

Thursday 10 August 2017 11:00
Mr. Pisit Serewiwattana, President of Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand), together with Mr. Nitid Manoonporn, President of Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG), and Mr. Surachai Kampalanonwat, Managing Director of Central Laboratory (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (CLT or Central Lab Thai), signed an MOU at EXIM Thailand's Head Office on August 10, 2017 to provide SME exporters with financial support in conjunction with product quality standard certification to enhance Thai brand recognition and expansion in the global market, especially for such products as agricultural products, foods and cosmetics.

Under this collaboration, SME exporters using "EXIM Instant Credit Super Value," which is a working capital loan with a credit line up to 2 million baht, secured only by a letter of guarantee from TCG and requiring no collateral assets, are entitled to an interest reduction by 0.5% in the first year to only 4.5% per annum and a complimentary coupon for product standard upgrade worth 5,000 baht per exporter. This will allow exporters seeking to raise their product quality standard to gain access to Pracharat laboratory service, which is of international standard with laboratory testing facilities certified by European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL). Thai products acquiring such certification will thus be better received in markets overseas. These products include fruits and vegetables, raw foods, processed foods, cosmetics, drinking water, beverages in sealed containers, semi-instant foods, tea and coffee drinks, in which impurities and residues have frequently been detected. In some cases, such products were sold in unhygienic packaging.

The above tripartite support will help provide solutions to Thai SME exporters facing financial liquidity crunch, stringent lending conditions of financial institutions, international trade risks like foreign exchange fluctuations and foreign buyers' default of payments for goods, or import bans on Thai goods due to failure to meet safety standards. It will also facilitate Thai export growth to achieve the set targets while enhancing Thai brand recognition and popularity in the global market.

"In international trade competition, Thai SME exporters need to be proactive relying on market studies, product quality development to reach international standards, new market penetration and financial readiness. They will also need to be well prepared to cope with trade and investment risks as well as currency fluctuation. EXIM Thailand and our business partners, TCG and Central Lab Thai, are ready to assist Thai SME exporters to ensure that they are fully equipped to compete well globally. This is in line with the government policy to support the country's target industries (S-curve) in their trade and investment expansion endeavors to successfully serve consumer markets overseas in the long term," added Mr. Pisit.