Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungruang said that during the past three years, the government had injected a huge amount of money to stimulate the economy, resulting in over 500 million baht of SMEs’ cost reduction.

The Thai-Japanese cooperation on SMEs promotion would reduce weaknesses and increase strengths of local enterprises, in line with the industry’s priority to seek international cooperation, especially in technology transfer.

Mr Charnchai mentioned that Japan has been Thailand’s biggest investor, and acknowledged as a country with the world’s best practice of SMEs promotion. The Thailand-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement signed in late 2007 prompted both sides to discuss more on investment.

As a result, the two countries has initiated many development projects focusing on 5 key aspects including human resources in the industrial sector, production technology, energy efficiency for industry, SMEs’ market expansion and solutions for environmental and pollution problems.

Japan External Trade Organization’s President Munenori Yamada commented that competitiveness in production should be considered most important.

He said that Japan was willing to share experience on the issue with Thailand since Thailand’s industrial development could benefit Japan’s overall industry.