March 31, 2020, depa Building Ladprao – The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) assigned the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) to launch the second phase of aid measures worth 85 million baht to shore up the Thai economy and support business operators battered by the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and drought problem. The depa will focus on utilizing and applying the digital technologies to optimize growth and potential of around 7,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), factories, businesses in the hospitality and service sector, small-scale business, street food vendors, brick-and-mortar stores, farmers and communities across the country. The digital technologies and innovation are expected to help maximize the efficiency in production, lower operating costs, increase revenue and reinvigorate the country’s macroeconomic development.
Mr. Buddhipongse Punnakanta, Minister of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) said the Thai economy and the society have suffered the economic fallout of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The public and private sectors are cooperating to solve the problems as all businesses and lives of all people in communities have to go on.
The MDES and the depa pushed for the adoption of digital technologies and innovation for use in many aspects in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus such as digital tracking of self-quarantine commitment of risk groups, information retrieval system on medical equipment, and communication and reporting system to provide updates on COVID-19 infections. Meanwhile, there are a large number of business operators, farmers and business communities in remote areas that are facing economic difficulties and struggling to deal with drought problem. Their lives and businesses are no less affected than people living in urban areas.
Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, President/CEO of depa, said the depa has to speed up revising the budget expenditure and allocation in fiscal 2020 to help people affected by the impact of the virus. It prompted the depa to allot 85 million baht for launching the second phase of relief measures to help SMEs, factories, hotels, businesses in service sector, small operators, street shops and vendors, farmers and communities, totaling around 7,500 affected people and businesses across the country.
“According to the mission of the depa, the agency is gearing up to revise budget planning to allocate the development budget to support business operators, hotels and businesses in the tourism and service sectors. Technologies and innovation have been used to enhance logistics management, reduce operating costs and optimize the enterprise resource planning (ERP) to be ready for changes and challenges at present and in the future. As for the relief measures for SMEs and farmers, the depa launched vouchers to promote the use of “Point of Sale” (POS) so as to reduce the risk of virus infections through touch points and touching banknotes. The depa also pushed for the transformation into digital trading or e-commerce and promoted the use of Internet of Things (IoT) for water management for small farmers as well as using technologies to enhance the development of business community, logistics and safety in communities,” said depa president/CEO.
However, the depa is still accepting the business application from operators who wish to receive incentives and promotions in order to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies and innovation under three stimulus schemes as follows;
1. depa Digital Transformation Fund : It aims to enhance the adoption of digital technologies and innovation in the industrial sector, targeting SMEs, factories, hotels and businesses in the service and hospitality sectors. The fund will be allocated to business operators in each region under four announcements with a focus on enhancing the efficiency in production process, internal management, cost cutting, creating value added to products and services as well as increasing income. The application submission is scheduled for March 25 to May 15, 2020.
2. depa Digital Transformation Fund for Community : It is for adapting digital technologies and innovation in remote communities with an aim to provide support to 198 communities or business communities that have 20 household members or so and should not have less than 3,960 households in total. The stimulus package will be allocated to operators according areas under six announcements. It focuses on businesses related smart production, smart society, smart farmers and farming practice, and smart trading and smart services. The application submission is scheduled for March 23 to July 31, 2020.
3. depa mini Transformation Voucher : This is a digital coupon measure initiated to enhance the adoption of digital technologies and innovation, targeting providing support to 3,560 operators across the country. This stimulus measure aims to drive up sales revenue and enhance online sales volume, support the presence of e-commerce system in order to overcome the drought problem. The application submission takes place March 25 to May 18, 2020. People, operators and enterprises that are interested to receive stimulus packages can register at
https://tinyurl.com/Thaifightcoviddepaxzipevent
“All of those stimulus schemes are part of the depa’s adjustment in its operational planning in line with the Digital Development for Economy and Society Act B.E. 2560 to promote economic development, society, culture and the stability of the nation. The depa will stay alongside all Thai people to get through crises and Thailand will be ready to move forward,” said Dr. Nuttapon.
Moreover, the depa is planning to launch a digital skills development scheme to promote and develop human resources with expertise in digitization and innovation to accommodate the digital economy. There will be skills development curriculums to reskill and upskill people for serving in areas where the country is in need of skilled personnel. Promotional and stimulus measures will be continuously announced. Interested people can check out more information at www.depa.or.th/thaifightcovid or scan QR Code
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