The cabinet yesterday approved a 10-billion-baht credit guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) startups and innovative companies offered by the state-owned Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG).
Under the scheme, eligible SMEs cannot have assets exceeding 200 million baht, while the TCG will offer a credit guarantee of 1 million baht for startups and innovation projects run by individuals, and 5 million baht per borrower for startups and innovative companies.
The TCG will also be allowed to offer a credit guarantee of up to 20 million baht for innovative companies that come up with new products or a new technology.
Borrowers' projects are required to win approval from technology-related agencies such as the National Science and Technology Development Agency, the National Innovation Office, or the Software Industry Promotion Agency.
The new scheme will encourage banks to lend to SME startups and those with innovations.
Kobsak Phutrakul, assistant minister to the Prime Minister's Office, said the government will allocate 1.7 billion baht from the budget to subsidise the guarantee fees charged by the TCG.
The TCG will offer the credit guarantee for 10 years, charging a guarantee fee at 2% of the lending amount. The government will offer its subsidy for the guarantee fee in the first year.
The government expects some 5,000 entrepreneurs will apply for the guarantee scheme.
In a related development, the cabinet yesterday approved help measures for fruit farmers affected by drought conditions. The measures include 34.8 billion baht worth of soft loans, with the government subsidising interest rates worth 2.32 billion baht.
The cabinet also approved amendments to the Factory Act of 1992 to facilitate how entrepreneurs do their business.
Mr Kobsak said one change is that factories with a minimum of 50 employees need to ask for a factory licence from the Industry Ministry.
Previously, the law required entrepreneurs with only seven employees to ask for a licence.
The amendments also increase the penalty to one year of imprisonment for entrepreneurs who dump waste, and they raise the factory licence fee to 1 million baht from 100,000 baht.