Village Funds are being urged to expand the scope of their community businesses beyond lending in order to raise income.
Speaking to over 18,000 participants at the Village Fund Expo, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told leaders on Thursday that the funds should not centre solely on extending loans to members, but should also develop their community businesses to generate income in the long run.
Capable Village Funds should engage in all stages of development, from production and processing to selling and logistics, Gen Prayut said.
The premier also urged leaders, especially for Grade C Village Funds, to upgrade to Grade A or B, considered premium grades for management competency, attractive returns on investment, decent accounting standards, and complete information presented in the annual report, as well as perfect care for members.
Some 59,595 Village Funds of the total are Grade A or B, with 20,000 categorised as Grade C. Grade A and B Village Funds have the potential to upgrade their own community businesses and community banks, the prime minister said.
Gen Prayut also suggested that villages unite to develop their own logistics to save on budget and get better access to markets.
Villages that have the potential to promote tourism should allocate more funding to upgrade facilities for visitors and develop tourism spots and homestays, he said.
"Foreign visitors are expected to reach 40 million this year," Gen Prayut said. "The villages that have potential for tourism should design tourism routes and activities to attract foreign visitors who favour learning local experiences."
The government is promoting tourism in second-tier provinces and communities.
Gen Prayut said tourism revenue is expected to account for 22% of GDP this year, up from 18-19% last year.
"The tourism revenue should be distributed more to local communities, not be centralised only in the main tourism cities or for large entrepreneurs," he said.
The government allocated 35 billion baht to Village Funds in 2016, 15 billion in 2017 and 20 billion in 2018. There are 79,595 Village Funds with 13 million members.
Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, chairman of the National Village and Urban Community Committee, said the government allocated a combined 70 billion baht to Village Funds during 2016-18.
Some 200,000 projects were implemented, spanning small retail shops, community drinking water development, farm product development and consumer products.
Mr Suwaphan said the projects could create 1.6 million jobs, while the Village Funds could generate total income of 39 billion baht and turn a 8.5-billion-baht profit over the three-year period.
