Bank and partners will help SMEs identify relevant technology solutions for their business needs and apply for funding to implement them.
United Overseas Bank (UOB) Thailand has launched the Smart Business Transformation Programme to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand to digitalize, the bank announced in a press release on Thursday evening.
The scheme is aimed at SMEs from the food and beverage, fast-moving consumer goods, construction, logistics, retail, wholesale and travel industries, particularly those keen to adopt technology, have regional growth plans and an annual turnover of between 25 million baht (S$1 million) and 1 billion baht (S$50 million).
«UOB (Thai) has been working with Thai companies for many years to help them achieve their financial goals. As these SMEs become more efficient and competitive through digital transformation, we will be there to support their business and financial plans to build sustainable growth both in Thailand and across Asia,» Tan Choon Hin, President and Chief Executive Officer of UOB (Thai) said.
Helping SMEs in Thailand Grow
The program will be run in collaboration with the state-run Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), the Office of SME Promotion (OSMEP) and the FinLab, a business accelerator jointly run by UOB and SGInnovate.
«The FinLab’s mission is to help SMEs across ASEAN scale their businesses through digitalisation, innovation and business transformation, allowing them to compete better within their home countries and in international markets,» Felix Tan, Managing Director, The FinLab, said.
Entering new markets and using digital tools to boost sales are the top two business growth strategies, according to an online survey conducted by the FinLab among SMEs in Thailand. However, they said that they were most worried about the cost and complexity of doing so.
As such, UOB (Thai) will help the Thai SMEs selected for the programme with their regional expansion plans and will also provide working capital funding for the SMEs to implement technology transformation projects.
Applications for the three-month program will be open until April 2019.
