Skip to main content

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


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cabinet adjusts tax incentives to boost tourism, MICE in minor cities

 The Cabinet has approved changes to the tax measure aimed at boosting tourism and MICE, or meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, in secondary provinces. After the Cabinet meeting, Mr Natporn Jatusripitak, Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office Minister, revealed that adjustments have been made to the draft ministerial regulation concerning tax exemptions to promote tourism and MICE activities in secondary cities. For more inclusiveness, the Cabinet agreed to expand the coverage of the term “non-hotel establishments” to accommodations with no more than four rooms and a capacity of no more than 20 guests which serve travelers on a temporary basis and generate supplementary income for the operators. Moreover, the meeting gave a nod to the addition of more secondary tourism sites, as suggested by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, to a list of places where visitors would be eligible for an income tax exemption on tour guide services. Visitors staying at non-hotel e...
Post a Comment
Read more

PM Prayut concerned about rampant football betting during World Cup 2018

The Prime Minister has expressed concerns about rampant football betting among Thais since the start of World Cup 2018. Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha said today that he wants Thai football fans to watch and enjoy football matches for entertainment, without letting it affect their health or efficiency at work or in the classroom. Most importantly, Gen. Prayut urged the public to refrain from football betting as such a vice can lead to debt and financial problems. The Prime Minister’s concerns are particularly directed at young Thais as many are still innocent and not aware of how something done for fun can lead to major problems in the future. He has instructed the Ministry of Education to promote an accurate understanding of the enjoyment of sports among students while engaging with parents to help keep their children away from gambling. Gen. Prayut added that the police have been monitoring all types of online betting, via websites and mobile phone applications, and he...
Post a Comment
Read more

More Bueng Kan farmers producing durian

Rubber farmers in Beung Khong Long district, Beung Kan province, have been able to supplement their incomes by growing durians. The rubber farmers have now begun picking durians from the trees as they begin to ripen. One durian plantation owner, Chaiyo Sisaeng, said his durian trees produced more durians this year. They will be harvested and ready for sale in the middle of this month. Chaiyo said the reason he started producing durian was because the weather in Bueng Kan was similar to the weather in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat where he had previously rented a plot of land to grow durian trees. After returning to his hometown in Bueng Kan, he decided to grow some on his land where there are now 125 durian trees. Forty of them have produced durians this year. Chaiyo is expecting to make 20,000 baht in profit from selling the sought-after fruit. Around 100 farmers in Beung Khong Long district alone, now grow durian trees. It is expected that Beung Kan will be abl...
Post a Comment
Read more