Trio boosts SME innovation

The National Innovation Agency (NIA) has joined forces with the Thailand Productivity Institute (FTPI) and Tris Corp Ltd to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leverage innovation to become smarter, enhancing the country's competitiveness.

- SUCHIT LEESA-NGUANSUK

“Thai SMEs are a vital engine of the national economy but face many challenges, including rising costs, fierce competition from foreigners, and limited access to technology and specialised knowledge,” said Krithpaka Boonfueng, executive director of the NIA.

“To push Thailand beyond the middle-income trap, we must upgrade SMEs from small enterprises to smart SMEs, evolving into robust mid-sized enterprises with standardised management systems that use innovation as a concrete tool for business growth.”

She said the core strategy for this shift is developing innovation alongside productivity.

Beyond adopting technology, the initiative requires a tailored innovation management system to fit each business's context, size and potential, aiming for tangible economic outcomes such as increased revenue, cost reduction and long-term competitiveness.

To achieve this, the NIA created the “INNOProductivity for SMEs” project in partnership with FTPI and Tris, as the latter is an expert in organisational assessment and development.

Together they designed a support process for SMEs ranging from potential assessment and in-depth consultancy to systematic strategic development planning.

The consultative assessment process acts as a “mirror reflecting organisational potential”, enabling businesses to see their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, noted the NIA. The assessment is a data-driven deep dive to design organisational upgrades suited to actual business contexts.

The NIA identified two pillars for upgrading Thai SMEs: management transformation and a productivity mindset.