Deputy director-general Rattana Theanvisitskool said yesterday that under the government’s policy to support companies to expand into foreign markets, the focus would be on franchisors as such entities already had clear a strategy and business pattern.

The agency will in fact support some 150 franchise businesses this year under the overall promotion plan, with around half of the franchisors expected to come up with clear plans for expansion overseas, starting in Asean countries, she said.

The five targeted countries for promotion during the latter half of the year are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia.

In the first half, the department promoted 25 franchise companies to do business in the Philippines, 12 of which seem to have had a greater chance in breaking into the market through the joint-venture platform, she added.

The businesses taking the JV route in the Philippines are JD Pool, Pool Pro & Lab, Hong Kong Noodle, Fresh Me, Moly Care, N&B Pizza Crepe, Hokkaido Milk, Daddy Do, Teddy House, Auto Quiks, Tummour, and Bake a Wish.

According to the department, Thailand now has 1,523 franchise businesses, which created combined income worth Bt645.79 billion last year.

Franchise businesses accounted for 9 per cent of the total retail business value in the Kingdom last year, while the value of franchise business in the US accounted to 54 per cent of retail business in that country.

Meanwhile, under Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn’s policy to support value-chain creation, the department will match 100 cosmetics enterprises and cosmetic-ingredient manufacturers with a view to linking the domestic supply chain, so that Thai businesses in the sector can reduce the cost of raw-material imports, while local ingredient-makers will be able to increase their sales, the official announced.

The cosmetics industry is a priority business for the department in terms of promoting the value supply chain, as Thailand has high expertise in the sector from upstream to downstream, Rattana said.

The sector is capable of generating huge sales each year and creating a significant return for the country’s income, she added.

According to a Commerce Ministry report, Thai exports of cosmetics, perfumery and soaps were worth US$1.91 billion (Bt66.5 billion) last year, while shipments in the first half of this year totalled $899.69 million.

In another matter, the BDD reported yesterday that between July 2 – when the Secured Transactions Act was implemented – and August 8, some 50,215 small and medium-sized enterprises had applied for loans totalling Bt269 billion from the country’s banks, as they could now use a wide range of secured assets as guarantees.

Under the new law, instead of using a mortgage or having to pawn their assets as business security, SMEs are able to use their assets, raw materials, inventories, aircraft, freight, patents, copyrights and trademarks as guarantees for acquiring loans from financial institutions, or to secure their liabilities.

During the five-week period, most SMEs taking advantage of the new law used their bank-book records as security for loans, with the next most popular means of guarantee being inventory, machinery, vehicles and lists of debtors.