Thai SMEs in strategic export industries
need database of foreign market regulations

If the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) brought Thai designers up to speed with international trends and standards, something similar is sorely needed for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand's strategic export industries.

Small local firms lack access to information on the rules and laws of other countries.

Hiring expensive European lawyers to gain expertise in European law is obviously prohibitively expensive for small SMEs venturing into an overseas market for the first time. Even the laws and regulatory procedures of neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and Burma are not easily available.

Every country, including Thailand, has its own set of regulations governing business. Some regulations set requirements that goods imported into the country have to meet.

Food safety regulations have become the most important import regulation after the problems that China had in this area last year. Thailand has also had some problems in the past. In 2005 European food safety inspectors claimed to have found a bacteria contamination in Thai fruit exports and banned all further imports from Thailand. As a result, Thai fruit exports declined and Thailand lost market share to Vietnam. Russia has, in the past, required export certification for rice, sugar and fishery products.

Large companies don't have as many problems with complicated regulations because they have more money to spend on lawyers and staff. The CP Group has been operating in Europe for years and already has expertise in hygiene requirements for poultry products that smaller SMEs exporting for the first time lack.

Smaller SMEs can sometimes join up with larger partner companies with regulatory expertise such as the retailers Lotus or Carrefour to get their exports promoted overseas, but most SMEs won't know how to deal with the regulations of other far-away countries. (Read research reports at the joint food safety research project between Thammasat University and Australian National University, see Bangkok Post article)

Regulations also lay down rules for doing business in a country. Tax, labour, and antitrust laws are examples of this kind of regulation. Thailand has had antitrust laws for seven years that have yet to be enforced, so Thai businesses operating overseas are not likely to be familiar with these laws and need information to learn the do's and don'ts in other countries.

Any SME business planning to do business overseas can get a good idea of what to expect, just by looking at Thailand's own regulations. Thailand's complicated state licensing requirements and uncertainties regarding the Foreign Business Act have to be mastered by foreign investors before they can do business in Thailand. If a foreign investor wants to open a new hotel, they must seek permission from the government every step along the way if they want to be safe. This generates a lot of paperwork: construction permits, liquor sales permits, and cultural issues they must comply with. Electrical appliance producers face stringent regulations in chemical and electrical waste management. Furniture producers have recently been told to switch from E20 glue to E-zero glue, specially imported from Germany.

Whereas the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) has databases of design materials, a Thailand Strategic Export Center (TSEC) would have a large database of import and business regulations for foreign countries, as well as the procedural details and case studies for important things such as customs clearance that Thai SMEs could familiarise themselves with and get their feet wet, before they jump head first into the market.

(Source: Bangkok Post, business section, 28-05-08, PARISTA YUTHAMANOP, page B2, temp-link)

Vocabulary:

Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) - a library and information center for all forms of design (product design, interior design fashion design, photography, etc) on the top floor of the Emporium on Skhumvit Road (See website) สถาบัน TCDC ที่ชั้น 6 เอ็มโพเรี่ยม

brought up to speed - learn enough so that you can do it effectively on your own เรียนรู้จนมีความชำนาญพอที่จะสร้างสรรค์เองได้

is sorely needed - needed very much เป็นที่ต้องการอย่างมาก

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) - a small or medium-sized business with few employees, for example: small = less than 50 employees, medium = less than 250 employees (See Wikipedia)
เอสเอ็มอี เจ้าของหรือผู้ประกอบธุรกิจรายย่อย

ี
strategic - long-term plans on how to compete in the future กลยุทธทางการตลาด

strategic export industries - industries that government policy helps grow to generate much needed export revenue in the future ภาคอุตสาหกรรมส่งออกซึ่งรัฐบาลมีนโยบายสนับสนุนเพื่อนำเงินเข้าประเทศ

lack access to information - can't get the information (for example, the laws are in a law library in a foreign country, written in another language, Russian, for example) ไำม่มีช่องทางเข้าถึงข้อมูล

expertise - special skills and knowledge from study, training, or experience ความถนัด

prohibitively expensive - too expensive so you can't buy ราคาแพงจนไม่สามารถจับจ่ายได้

procedures - a series of steps that must be followed, to do something ขั้นตอน  กระบวนการดำิเนินการ

regulations - government rules to control the way that something is done กฎข้อบังคับ

regulatory procedures - the steps that must be followed to meet government regulations ระเบียบและขั้นตอนในการดำิเนินการตามที่รัฐได้วางไว้

regulatory expertise - knowing what the regulations are and how to best follow them รู้ระเบียบปฏิบัีติเป็นอย่างดี

food safety - the science of handling, preparing, and storing food products to keep the food healthy (prevent illness from food) (See Wikipedia) การทำให้อาหารสะอาดปลอดภัย

bacteria contamination - when bacteria that causes disease and sickness gets into food and makes it dangerous ปนเปื้อนด้วยแบคทีเรีย

market share - the percentage of sales in a market that a company has (See glossary) ส่วนแบ่งตลาด

export certification - official guarantee that exported goods meet requirements (See glossary) ใบอนุญาตการส่งออก

hygiene - procedures to ensure cleanliness ความสะอาด

poultry - chickens, turkeys, and other similar birds สัตว์ปีก

lay down rules - make rules วางกฎระเบียบ

antitrust - laws that encourage greater competition, that discourage monopolies and cartels, business practices that prevent entry into a market or compeitition (See Wikipedia on competition laws) กฎหมายต่อต้านการผูกขาด

the do's and don'ts - the list of things that you can do (permitted) can't do (prohibited) สิ่งที่สามารถปฏิบัติได้และไม่ได้

complicated - has many parts and is difficult to understand and deal with ซับซ้อน

state licensing requirements - areas of business activity that the government requires you to have special permission before you can do ข้อกำหนดในการออกใบอนุญาตของรัฐ

uncertainties - areas that you can't say for sure what will happen ความไม่แน่นอน

Foreign Business Act (FBA) - Thailand's laws on foreign businesses and people doing business in Thailand กฎหมายว่าด้วยการประกอบธุรกิจของผู้ลงทุนชาวต่างชาติ

seek permission - try to get someone to allow you to do something ขอคำอนุมัติ อนุญาติ

paperwork - the part of a job that requires writing letters, emails, reports, and keeping records งานเอกสาร

a permit - an official document that allows you to do something ใบอนุญาต

comply with - follow a rule or law ปฏิบัติตามกฎข้อบังคับ

face stringent regulations - have strict rules controlling your activities เผชิญกับข้อบังคับที่เข้มงวดขึ้่น

a case study - a story about a real business  situation that you can study and learn about the problems in the real world, outside of school กรณีศึกษา

customs clearance - the procedures you have to follow, before the government customs department will allow your imported goods into the country การตรวจปล่อยสินค้าของศุลกากร

familiarise - when you learn how to do something 

and have basic understanding  คุ้นเคยกับการปฏิบัติ

get their feet wet - go into the water just a little first, to test it ชิมลาง

jump head first into - suddenly become very involved in an activity (like jumping into a swimming pool head first) กระโดดเข้าไปมีส่วนร่วมทันที

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