THAILAND: Rubber Authority of Thailand receiving applicants for rubber assistance fund

The Rubber Authority of Thailand has started accepting applications for new credits proposed by the Cabinet to rubber operators. The registration for the assistance is open until 12 September 2016.

The new credit fund will be available through the Government Savings Bank, Krungthai Bank, Bangkok Bank, Thai Military Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, CIMB Thai Bank, Kasikorn Bank and SME Bank.

The credits totaling THB 1.5 billion will go towards enhancing rubber businesses’ production expansion and purchasing of machinery, while the government will pay the 3 percent interest rate for the participating operators for the next 10 years.

The project is expected to raise annual demand for raw rubber by an addition of 60,000 tons to be processed into various rubber products. Therefore, eligible applicants must be in the rubber processing industry such as gloves, elastics, tires and industrial equipment.

Successful applicants must be able to increase their use of natural rubber by at least 4 tons per year for every one-million-baht loan granted to them.

Source: National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT), Bangkok; 15 Apr 2016

(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)