Singer (Thailand) Ltd.

Project Areas:

 Nang Rong District, Buri Ram Province and Ban Phai District, Khon Kaen Province

The Project:

 Singer, a well know producer of sewing machines and household electrical appliances, joined TBIRD in December 1989, and opened its first centre in 1990. The Singer project is unusual in several ways. First, it is not located in or aimed at a particular village. Rather Singer has established two centres offering training in industrial sewing. These centres train women from villages throughout the northeast. Secondly, Singer's project does not contain traditional development work aimed at providing basic needs. The project primarily involves the promotion of income-generating skill that can be used in people's home village to allow then to make enough money to support themselves without having to migrate.

The resources provided by Singer have also been used to train participants from other TBIRD projects. For example, the first group of workers at the Bata factory received their training at the Singer facilities.

To get the facilities started, Singer donated sewing machines and provided experienced sewing teachers. The classes are held in buildings at the PDA centres, and the course of study lasts three months. Once a student graduates, they are entitled to an interest free loan from a fund provided by Singer, to help them purchase their own sewing machine. In some villages graduates have set up cooperatives to accept contract work from garment factories. Singer has provided some contract work, and tries to coordinate orders from other buyers.

 

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Adapted from "Business for Development, The HRD Approach of the Thai Business Initiative for Rural Development." United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific