One of Thailand’s largest banks has teamed up with Myanmar for a scheme aimed at helping small businesses in Mon state and Thanintharyi in the southeast.
The scheme, backed by Kasikornbank, will offer training programmes and financial assistance for entrepreneurs and mom-and-pop businesses in the region’s staple industries, which include rubber, fishing and fruit.
After starting in the southeastern regions, the scheme will be expanded across the country.
The SME Capacity Building Program 2017, aimed at small and medium sized enterprises, will launch in May. It follows an agreement between the Thai banking giant and the Myanmar government’s Central Department of Small and Medium Enterprises Development (CDSMED).
“SME businesses are essential for economic development and the sector needs assistance to keep abreast with foreign countries,” said Daw Aye Aye Win, director general of CDSMED, which operates under the Ministry of Industry.
“Kasikornbank is going to help develop the sector, and we will start our scheme in the states and regions neighbouring Thailand,” she added.
“Mon state has a lot of potential for SME businesses and an abundance of raw materials. But most are struggling from a shortage of technology and finance,” said U Hla Shein, chairman of the Mon State Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The state needs assistance to improve the quality of its output of rubber, fruits and marine products in order to export foreign countries, he added.
“Agriculture is a major area for SMEs in Mon state, but water delivery and irrigation, as well as training on the proper use of fertilizers and quality seeds are urgently needed,” said Naing Thaung Nyunt, a Member of Parliament from Mawlamyine, the state capital.
After Mon and Tanintharyi, the Ministry of Industry aims to roll the assistance programme out in Taunggyi, Shan state, in June, before targeting Yangon, Mandalay, and Bago, where most of the county’s SMEs operate.
Food producers account for 59 percent of all SMEs in Myanmar, according to government figures, while SMEs in the tourism sector make up 27 percent of the total. Another 8 percent operate in the construction industry and 6 percent in garments.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
