Finance to help SMEs
German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Thai banks are to jointly offer services to improve financial access for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to make them more competitive.
The project, "Services for Improving Financial Access (SIFA)", is being set up by GTZ, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, and the Government Savings Bank plus the Thai Bankers' Association (TBA). Running until the end of 2008, the purpose is to increase financial access for SMEs operating in the oil palm, shrimp, tapioca, fruit and vegetables and saa (mulberry) paper agro-industry sectors. SIFA is being designed to address many of the support service problems that affect SMEs' ability to obtain financial support. It works with private-sector financial institutions, which can provide the services SMEs need access to. The project will focus on the core "supply constraint" in the financial services market, namely, the development of new financial products. lEnhancement of financial institutions' ability to design and deliver more appropriately targeted financial products to SMEs lAn improvement in the legal and regulatory framework affecting the provision of financial services to SMEs.
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