Thai PM to raise village fund

BANGKOK, December 24 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced on Saturday that her administration will raise financial support given to the government-sponsored village fund scheme by one million baht for each village, aimed at assisting the poor in rural areas nationwide. Yingluck said, while officially opening Thailand's latest One Tambon One Product (OTOP) fair held at the Impact Trade and Exhibition Centre in Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok, that OTOP is considered one of significant policies of her government, and that local OTOP operators can, therefore, access to four financial sources now, including the village fund scheme, under which assistance will be increased by one million baht for each village, the small, medium and large or SML villages project, under which fund depends on the size of local communities, the women development fund, amounting one million baht for each province, and the community product development. Thailand’s village fund scheme was launched in 2001, months after ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s elder brother, first took office. Addressing the crowd, the Pheu Thai premier said this year's OTOP fair was aimed to assist flood-affected operators to increase their market outlets and to allow consumers to buy quality goods. (TNA)