Kasikornbank is moving forward by partnering with the Small Business Credit Guarantee Corporation (SGC) to guarantee SME loans continuously, focusing on import-export businesses with a maximum loan amount of 60 million baht, and tourism businesses with loans up to 3.3 times the collateral value. The SGC will guarantee up to 40 million baht per client and waive the 1.75% fee for the first four years. The bank aims to disburse 1.5 billion baht in loans to these two SME sectors by the end of this year.

          Mr. Surath Leelathavivat, Deputy Managing Director of Kasikornbank, revealed that the bank, in collaboration with the SGC, supports SME operators under the "SME Capital Guarantee Loan Project" (PGS Phase 6) to assist with working capital and business expansion for import-export and tourism sectors. For the import-export sector, the maximum loan amount for imports and exports is 60 million baht without collateral, with the SGC guaranteeing up to 40 million baht. Additionally, there will be increased loan amounts to mitigate exchange rate risks to reduce volatility for SMEs. This support will enable capable small import-export operators to access funding and grow their businesses.

          For the tourism sector, loans will be provided to enhance liquidity or invest in business expansion, up to 3.3 times the collateral value for hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, tour operators, and spa services, with the SGC guaranteeing up to 40 million baht. Payment options will also be expanded through card swipe machines like WeChat and Alipay, with special fees applied, as well as payments through the K PLUS Shop service. Furthermore, the SGC will waive the 1.75% guarantee fee for the first four years for participating import-export and tourism businesses. The bank aims to disburse new loans for the import-export and tourism sectors totaling 1.5 billion baht by the end of 2017.

          Mr. Nithis Manunporn, Director and General Manager of the Small Business Credit Guarantee Corporation, stated that the overall SME situation is improving due to the government's continuous support policies for SME operators over the past 2-3 years, particularly through the SGC's loan guarantee mechanisms. Financial institutions also play a crucial role in supporting SMEs by collaborating with the government on projects like the SME Capital Guarantee Loan Project (PGS Phase 6) and others. In the past eight months (January-August 2017), the total loan guarantees amounted to 43.434 billion baht, with 69,743 guarantee letters approved and 57,966 new clients. The SGC expects to meet its guarantee targets by the end of the year.

          The top five sectors with the highest loan guarantees from the SGC include the service sector, accounting for 25.7%, which has the highest guarantees and grows every year. This sector encompasses tourism, hotels, manufacturing and trade at 14.36%, food and beverage at 8.66%, steel and metal industries at 8.24%, and agriculture at 8.13%. Notably, Kasikornbank has closely collaborated with the SGC to continuously support SMEs. For the PGS Phase 6 project, Kasikornbank has significantly increased its lending, holding a market share of 31%, the highest in the sector.

          Mr. Nithis further stated that the SGC is confident that this collaboration will drive economic growth through loan guarantees and lending by banks under the SME Capital Guarantee Loan Project (PGS Phase 6). The SGC and Kasikornbank aim to facilitate loans and guarantees totaling no less than 12 billion baht throughout this project, helping over 27,000 SMEs receive loans and generating approximately 136 billion baht in financial system loans, creating around 108,000 jobs and generating over 371 billion baht in circulating capital in the economy.

Thank you for the information from www.kasikornbank.com