Booming tourism and exports sectors lift SME performance

Thailand’s booming tourism and export sector has boosted competitiveness among SMEs, with the services and trades industries seeing the highest growth.

Director of the Center for Economic and Business Forecasting Dr. Thanawat Polwichai, today unveiled the most recent performance by the SME index, a collaboration between his office and SME Bank. Polling results in the second quarter revealed that the overall business environment improved to 43.3, or 0.5 points higher than in the previous quarter. Business capacity dropped by 0.1 points to 50.2, and business sustainability increased by 0.5 points to 52. The SME competitiveness index rose by 0.3 points to 48.5, extending the index’s growth streak since 2017.

He said the survey indicates a clear direction for SME recovery, pointing to positive figures in inventory, liabilities, access to credit, and earnings. Businesses in the services sector were among the top performers, due to continued growth in the tourism sector. The second-best performers were in trade, due to the booming export sector. High growth was seen in the car parts industry, followed by furniture and plastics.

However, Thai businesses continue to contend with the volatile Thai baht, high oil prices, the US-Chinese trade dispute, and low purchasing power due to an ongoing price slump in agricultural commodities.

Information and Source
Reporter : Benjamin Rujopakarn
Rewriter : Rodney McNeil
National News Bureau & Public Relations : http://thainews.prd.go.th

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