Promising Thai SMEs
selected by big international suppliers
By Jon Fernquest |
World Smart SMEs 2007 was held by the Thai government's Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) last month (November 12-14).
160 smaller SMEs competed to be selected as suppliers by larger buyers including well-known names in Thailand such as the French hypermarket chain Carrefour and others less well-known such as Universal Trading and Import Export Co, and Li and Fung (Thailand) Co.
The nature of SME businesses and products that managed to strike up a deal varied widely from more traditional products such as textiles and food to industries we don't normally associate with Thailand such as ceramics, rubber latex, and Muslim halal food:
Carrefour was sourcing goods from 12 local textile manufacturers and 35 food producers to join its supply chain, while Universal Trading entered business partnerships with 45 companies.Li and Fung (Thailand) has made business deals with seven furniture manufacturers and one ceramic maker. Halal Science Center agreed to provide consultancy to 25 SME operators to develop their production processes to comply with halal food processing regulations and strict manufacturing procedures.
Thai Rubber Latex Corp (Thailand) found six partners from the event as well...
A representative from Carrefour Global Sourcing Thailand said the company met 47 SME operators from the food and garment industries at the event, and it found out that more than 10% of SMEs participating were able to potentially expand their businesses.
Carrefour not only facilitates Thai exports to Europe, Carrefour has also been exporting Thai products to other Asia countries and South American for several years.
The competition was intense between the many SMEs for a limited number of spots. Existing logistics capability was required in the selected SMEs.
Each negotiation between SME and large supplier during the crowded "business match-making sessions" was limited to 30 minutes.
For further reading, see more Bangkok Post articles on retailing. (Source: Bangkok Post, Business, 07-12-07, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
an SME - Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (not gigantic powerful corporations, the sort of business that needs help in finding business opportunities)
hypermarket - a very large store with parking covering a very wide range of products from food to clothing to household products, everyone someone needs so they don't need to shop anywhere else (See Wikipedia)
strike up a deal - make a business deal, arrangement, or agreement
associate x with y - what you think of x, you also usually think of y
ceramics - the material from which pots, bricks, tiles, coffee cups, and even the artificial teeth that dentists use is made from (See Wikipedia)
rubber latex - natural latex is a flexible rubber-like material that comes from a plant (See Wikipedia)
Muslim halal food - food that it is "permissible" (=halal) for a Muslim to eat, the food must follow Muslim dietary laws in its preparation which means that any producer must be certified by experts to ensure its adherence (See Wikipedia on Halal food and Muslim dietary laws)
sourcing goods - locating and selecting a place to purchase goods from
comply with - follow rules (here the Muslim dietary rules in Halal food)
partners - businesses that work together
operators - companies who do a business
garment - clothing
facilitates - help
spots - a limited number of positions to be selected to do something
intense - full of energy and activity
logistics - moving goods between factories, retailers, and wholesalers, as well as storage of these goods along the way
capability - able to do something
match-making - bringing together two people who need each other (usually matchmaking is between women and men who want to get married, but between companies who want to do business together also possible)
