Bangkok: The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) is offering a New Year's gift for 2026 by investing over 2 billion baht to enhance the potential of Thai SMEs and facilitate their growth in the global market. This initiative aims to generate an economic turnover of at least 20 billion baht.
According to Thai News Agency, Ms. Panita Chinawat, Deputy Director of OSMEP, announced the operational plan designed as a New Year's gift for Thai SMEs. She emphasized that the 3.25 million Thai SMEs are crucial to the economy, supporting over 13 million jobs nationwide. In 2025, SMEs contributed more than 4.45 trillion baht in economic value, which represents 34.8% of the country's GDP. Given the challenges posed by recent floods and border issues, OSMEP has devised three primary measures to aid SMEs:
1. Rehabilitation Measures: Targeting those affected by floods and border issues, this initiative seeks to help entrepreneurs resume business through the "SME Success, Money Back" project, which subsidizes business development costs via a co-payment system. The loan limit is increased to 500,000 baht per entrepreneur. Additionally, OSMEP has partnered with SME D Bank to provide low-interest loans for recovery and expansion, up to 1 million baht per entrepreneur.
2. Financial Measures: Designed to empower SMEs to adapt to global market conditions, this includes low-interest loans totaling 1.2 billion baht across three business groups. The Transformation Fund supports technological upgrades with loans up to 10 million baht, the Enhancement Fund aids businesses ready for global competition, and the Tourism and Related Fund offers liquidity with loans up to 2 million baht, all with favorable repayment terms.
3. Marketing Measures: The 'Thai SMEs New Opportunity Gateways' project, with a 600 million baht budget, aims to open new markets for SMEs. It includes enhancing the brand image of 2,000 entrepreneurs and facilitating international business matching events for 1,000 businesses, with OSMEP covering 80% of participation costs.
Ms. Panita stated that these measures are expected to assist up to 15,000 SMEs, particularly in flood-affected and border areas, with a total assistance value of 2.15 billion baht, contributing to an economic turnover of at least 20 billion baht. This initiative aligns with OSMEP's dedication to providing practical and transparent support to Thai entrepreneurs.