The cabinet met on January 7, 2020 at the Government House. Some of the resolutions are as follows:
The cabinet approved the draft Royal Decree prescribing area granted for establishment of entertainment places in Bueng Kan province, B.E. …; and draft Royal Decree prescribing area granted for establishment of entertainment places in Phuket province, B.E. …, as proposed by Ministry of Interior.
The draft Royal Decree prescribing area granted for establishment of entertainment places in Bueng Kan province, B.E. … prescribes establishment of entertainment places in area 1 (Muang district), area 2 (Pak Khad district), area 3 (Bung Khla district), area 4 (So Pisai district), area 5 (Porn Charoen district), area 6 and area 7 (in Sega district).
The draft Royal Decree prescribing area granted for establishment of entertainment places in Phuket province, B.E. … prescribes establishment of entertainment places in area 1 (Karon subdistrict, Muang district), area 2 and 3 (Talad Yai subdistrict, Muang district), area 4 (Chalong subdistrict, Muang district), areas 5 to 10 (Patong subdistrict, Kathu district).
The cabinet approved in principle extension of Local Economy Loan scheme, and Transformation Loan (2nd phase) under the special measures to propel SMEs toward Thailand 4.0 (financial measures). The extension is made to start accepting loan request on December 19, 2019, and the last date of acception is either on December 18, 2020 or until the loan limit is reached. This is as proposed by Ministry of Industry.
Both financial schemes have been implemented according to the cabinet’s approval on December 19, 2017 and has been extended once according to the cabinet’s resolution on December 18, 2018.
Local Economy Loan scheme is aimed to suppot SMEs entrepreneurs with the revolving fund to invest, expand, and improve their business in the fields of agricultural processing, tourism, innovation, wholesaling and retailing, with the set loan limit of 50 billion Baht, and the loan period is up to 7 years. Transformation Loan (2nd phase) is aimed to support SMEs entrepreneurs in the S-Curves business who need to invest, expand, and improve their technologies, with the set loan limit of 20 billion Baht.
The cabinet approved and acknowledged the proposal of Ministry of Finance as follows:
1. Approved the proposed measures/projects, and assigned concerned agencies to proceed accordingly
2. Acknowledged financial measures to support SMEs/projects, and assigned concerned agencies to proceed accordingly
3. Approved tax measures and fees, and agreed on concerned draft Royal Decrees, draft Ministerial Regulations, and draft Interior Ministerial Announcements.
SMEs Financial Support Scheme will provide support to the following projects/measures:
1. SMEs that need more liquidity: There are 3 projects under this category:
1) Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TGC)’s SMEs for Thailand scheme;
2) Government’s Savings Bank (GSB)’s Transformation Loan scheme; and
3) GSB SMEs Extra Liquidity scheme.
2. SMEs to be filed with lawsuits: SMEs under PGS 5- PGS 7 projects
3. SMEs with potentials: such as SME Bank’s Local Economy Loan; GSB’s Pracharat SME Loan; TGC’s PGS 8 project; TGC’s Direct Guarantee project, among others.
4. Other measures
The cabinet acknowledged outcomes of the 3rd Meeting of Thailand-Myanmar Joint Working Group on Preparation of the Return of Myanmar Displaced Persons, and the 1st Meeting of Thailand-Myanmar Joint Technical Working Group on the Myanmar Displaced Persons, and approved adoption of the outcome documents. Should there be an amendment before adopting, Ministry of Foreign Affairs may proceed without having to resubmit to the cabinet. This is as proposed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Outcome document of the 3rd Meeting of Thailand-Myanmar Joint Working Group on Preparation of the Return of Myanmar Displaced Persons (held on March 6, 2019) prescribes establishment of Thailand-Myanmar Joint Technical Working Group on the Myanmar Displaced Persons; clear timeframe on the return of Myanmar displaced persons; hiring of Myanmar displaced persons to work in Thailand after their return to Myanmar; assistance to ensure safe and sustainable return; and opening of additional border crossing points for the return of Myanmar displaced persons.
Outcome document of the 1st Meeting of Thailand-Myanmar Joint Technical Working Group on the Myanmar Displaced Persons prescribes return of the 4th batch of Myanmar displaced persons; discussion on border crossing points for the return of the 4th batch of Myanmar displaced persons (who have already returned in July 2019); cooperation on sustainable return through establishment of learning centers and community development projects based on the application of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP); and labor-related discussion.
Source: Cabinet Meeting (Prayut Chan-o-cha) January 07, 2020