Projects > Brief descriptions > Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and medium-sized enterprises in Selected Fruit and Vegetable Sub-sectors through the Promotion of Technological Advisory Services

Contact person

For further information please contact:
Dr James Tomecko
Email: james.tomecko@giz.de

Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Selected Fruit and Vegetable Sub-sectors through the Promotion of Technological Advisory Services

Project description

Title: Enhancing the Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Selected Fruit and Vegetable Sub-sectors through the Promotion of Technological Advisory Services
Commissioned by: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)
Country: Thailand
Lead executing agency: The Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR)
Overall term: January 2005 to January 2007

Context

One of the overarching competitiveness constraints for many Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is their lack of access to good quality and affordable technological research related to either new products or processes. This poor access is partly due to a lack of awareness on the part of SMEs of the availability of relevant advisory services. The capacity of service providers to deliver high impact services that make a difference to the productivity or sales potential of the SME client is a further constraint.

Objective

The purpose of this project is to increase the outreach and capacity of the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research to provide affordable and high quality technology solutions to SMEs in selected agro-industry sub-sectors. This will be achieved through technical assistance from GTZ and the Aachen University of Technology in Germany.

Approach

The approach involves conducting needs assessments for technological research in the selected agro-industrial sub-sectors. These needs assessments involve factory visits to both lead firms and representative SMEs, to identify priority issues that represent technological constraints on the sectors in question. Based on these contacts, a series of clients is identified and research contracts are then concluded. The term of these contracts varies, some running for a number of months, and they include technological research, prototype development, factory installation, on-site adaptations, training of operators and post-installation servicing.

Results achieved so far

Continuous upgrading of TISTR’s staff has lead to a point where the project has a fully operational website to create demand for technological and scientific research among SMEs. It produces a quarterly newsletter, in which it publishes interesting technological innovations as well as the results of relevant research. Approximately 40 SMEs have so far received online advice on machinery development/production. Four contracts have been made with firms in the food-processing sector with a fifth and sixth contract in the pipeline.