Forty organizations led by the Thai Bankers' Association and the Thai Life Assurance Association have joined hands to introduce a manufacturing revival programmer aimed at revitalizing tens of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hurt by the floods.
Prasert Thammanoonkul, president of the Alliance for Supporting Industries Association (ASIA), said half of his group's 20,000 members had been inundated.
Hundreds of thousands of SMEs nationwide have been affected by the months-long flooding.
"Those businesses not directly affected have suffered an absence of orders over the past month. Sadly, the government has provided assistance only to big companies while ignoring the needs of these smaller operators," said Mr Prasert.
ASIA and the Thai Tool and Die Industry Association (TDIA) are among 40 organisations participating in the "Manufacturing Revival: Fast Track to Normal Production" programme.
Other participants include the Japan External Trade Organisation, the Thai-German Institute, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority.
The alliance will stage four activities next month at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Bitec).
They are a Revival Clinic where experts will advise flood-affected firms on recovering their production; a Sourcing Centre for affected firms to meet with subcontractors and maintenance service operators; a Financial Management Forum for recovery packages offered by banks and assurance companies; and seminars aimed at returning confidence to foreign partners and buyers.
Apart from these events, the alliance will hold roadshows in affected areas, starting with the Rojana Industrial Park early next year.
"The rehabilitation process should take about a year for the affected manufacturers," said Mr Prasert.
The TDIA said 4,000 moulds remained submerged and would need about two months to repair.
Moulds are major components in key sectors such as automobiles and electronics.
A total of 460 Japanese-operated factories have been affected, by the flooding, with 3,400 pieces of machinery damaged.
The revival activities will be held alongside Metalex 2011, Southeast Asia's largest international machine tools exhibition, to be held at Bitec from Dec 21-24.
Mr Prasert said 13 associations under the alliance generated combined annual sales of 300 billion baht and employed 300,000 workers.
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