Bangkok, 8 August 2024 – GIZ and Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) has joined with partner agencies, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the National Innovation Agency (Public Organization) (NIA), and The Office of SMEs Promotion (OSMEP) to drive the implementation of GHG mitigation among SMEs by providing a subsidy of 2.5 million baht per project from the Thai Climate Initiative Fund (ThaiCI) Fund. The first thematic call will focus on small and medium-sized hotels and aims to enhance the capacity of these Thai hotels to operate under the Environment, Social and Governance concept (ESG), while building up confidence in the low-carbon tourist market, and supporting Thailand’s in achieving its net zero GHG emission target by 2065.

Prasert Sirinapaporn, Secretary General, ONEP, said: “With the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) through GIZ to establish the ThaiCI Fund under the Environmental Fund, ThaiCI has become a seed funding provider for climate change projects in Thailand, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation. To pilot the ThaiCI subsidy initiative with SMEs, today ONEP through the Environmental Fund Division is collaborating with the TAT, OSMEP and NIA on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony on GHG mitigation in the hotel sector under the ThaiCI Fund. The call for proposals will be launched by ONEP and the selected proposals will be tabled to the Environmental Fund Committee for approval. The maximum subsidy is limited to 2.5 million baht per project. The partner agencies will also provide support through various measures to help strengthen the capacity of SMEs.”

Apichai Chatchalermkit, Deputy Governor for Tourism Products and Business, TAT, added: “The foreign tourist market is now focusing on eco-friendly tourism as well as tourism that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. TAT, as a public organisation responsible for marketing aiming to expand the quality tourist market, is bringing in the CF-Hotels platform, which is one of TAT’s Shape Supply Initiatives. The platform will help us to understand the GHG emission baseline of the hotels and to track the GHG reduction of those hotels who have requested the ThaiCI Fund support. The projects supported by the ThaiCI Fund will not only reduce the environmental impact of the Thai tourism industry, but also increase opportunities for Thailand to reach the quality tourist market and build confidence in the sustainability direction of the Thai tourism industry.”

Panita Shinawatra, Deputy Director General, Acting Director General, of OSMEP, noted that OSMEP was focusing on sustainable business operations. This had been one of the focuses in both the 5th SME Promotion Plan and the SME Promotion Action Plan since 2023 to guide SMEs in eco-friendly trends, particularly in the hotel sector. OSMEP’s figures show a total of 41,825 SMEs in the hotel business nationwide. ThaiCI support in reducing GHG emissions would help SMEs hotels in expanding to the new market segment. Under this 4-party collaboration, OSMEP will provide additional SME promotion measures to connect and support SMEs interested in requesting the ThaiCI Fund support. This includes providing an SME Coach, as well as support through the BDS (Business Development Service) system which provides 50-80% co-payment for any initiative. SMEs interested in applying for the ThaiCI Fund should check and verify status at https://oneid.sme.go.th/ or through SME Connext application.

Krithpaka Boonfueng, Executive Director, NIA, said: “NIA has a strategy to drive Thailand towards becoming an innovation nation through its “NIA Focal Conductor: Leading Thailand to an Innovation Nation” project on the concept Groom – Grant – Growth – Global. The aim is increase opportunities for Thai innovators to grow their investment in both the domestic and international markets. The support focuses on energy, electric vehicles (EV), and the environment as one of the five targeted industries. NIA is therefore willing to support start-ups with low-carbon emission technologies suitable for the SME hotel sector by presenting 8 Thai start-ups with potential business matching to support SME hotels in energy efficiency and renewable energy.”

The MoU to reduce GHG emissions in the hotel sector under the ThaiCI Fund will have an implementation period of 2 years. The MoU is considered the starting point to enhance GHG mitigation in the Thai tourism industry and is a step towards achieving Thailand’s net zero GHG emission target by 2065.

Apart from the MoU signing ceremony, a panel discussion on “Cooperation to implement GHG mitigation in the hotel sector under the ThaiCI Fund” as well as a presentation on the “call for proposal” procedures were also held to inform interested applicants. For more information on the proposal application, please contact 02-265-6598 (Khun Punvadee) Environmental Fund Division, ONEP.