NXPO President Dr. Kitipong Promwong recently delivered a talk at Mega Show Bangkok 2023 held from 19 to 21 July 2023 at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC). His presentation was titled “Strengthen Science Park to e-Commercial Park for supporting MSMEs Growth”.
Dr. Kitipong started his presentation by highlighting Thailand’s current status as a middle-income nation, with an average per capita income of USD 7,500. To attain the high-income status, the per capita income must reach at least USD 12,500. He emphasized that innovation holds the key to achieving this goal, and e-commerce presents a promising channel for introducing innovative products to broader markets.
Thailand possesses significant innovation capacity and ranks above expectations among developing countries in global innovation rankings. Furthermore, funding for startups has doubled from the previous year, underscoring strong support for SMEs, startups, and innovation-driven enterprises (IDEs), which are pivotal drivers of economic growth.
As the main driver of research and innovation policy, NXPO has played a crucial role in introducing new policies and support measures for IDEs. These include finance facilities, tax incentives, skilled workforce development programs and STEM employment incentives. The establishment of the Innovation Club Thailand facilitates connections between startups and large corporates, fostering collaboration in knowledge and technology exchange, as well as market expansion.
NXPO’s goal is to create 1,000 IDEs, each generating an average revenue of THB 1 billion. To realize this objective, new measures have been launched. Among these measures is the encouragement of public research institutes and universities to establish a holding company, which allows flexibility in spinning off innovation-based companies or engaging in joint investment with the private sector on innovation projects. The holding company scheme is expected to create more jobs and revenue to the Thai economy. The six regional science parks have formed a network with more than 50 universities across the country, providing assistance to over 600 enterprises through each university’s incubation program. To bolster the capacity for creating, producing and disseminating digital media, several digital creative content laboratories have been established in various parts of the country, equipped with the necessary tools and experts.
Presently, the government is in the process of setting up a new organization to administer research funds and provide grants to both public and private entities. The funding mechanism will be redesigned to accommodate large-scale projects such as medical research involving various stages of clinical studies.
Additionally, a digital economy platform is under construction to enable science parks in helping enterprises to bring their innovative products to the market. Furthermore, an e-commercial & innovation platform (ECIP) is being proposed to support product development and manufacturing, as well as access to domestic and international markets.
