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Published on July 20, 2007

Representatives of the committee discussed the matter yesterday when they sat on a public-private ad-hoc committee appointed by the government to solve the problems of each industry.

Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) vice president Tanit Sorat yesterday said the Thai Bankers' Association proposed during the committee meeting that the amount of the fund be Bt500 million.

The government would contribute 90 per cent and commercial banks the rest.

However, the FTI proposed a level of at least Bt5 billion that would be wholly contributed by the government, he added.

Both the bankers' association and the FTI are members of the economic steering committee, which will make its final decision on the matter next Monday.

The FTI has also proposed the fund give top priority to SMEs that heavily use local raw materials to manufacture their products and those that have been affected by the stronger baht. Among these are SMEs in the garment and food sectors.

The FTI also proposed that SMEs place their products in inventories as collateral for borrowing from the planned SME fund.

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation