Businesses which have been hit hard by last year’s severe flooding, are resuming their operations, said the Industry Ministry of Thailand.

Industry Minister M.R. Phongsawat Svastiwat said that the government-initiated rehabilitation programme for flood-hit businesses has achieved its goal to help all operators back on their feet.

According to the ministry’s data, 5,664 businesses from 34 provinces have initially registered for state assistance, which has received financial backing worth 148 million THB from the government.

He added that, currently, the assistance programme is at the stage in which in-depth restoration of the entire business is being applied to help Thai operators prepare for the realization of ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

The Industry Minister said that, out of around 1,000 businesses ready for this stage, around 400 will likely complete the process before the end of May while the rest is expected to do so within July.

In addition, the Industry Ministry is set to add more advisers to its team to prompt more than 2 million entrepreneurs for future obstacles.-VNA/NNT