NXPO recently participated in the ASEAN-India Grassroots Innovation Forum 2023, hosted by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) of India. Held at the Langkawi International Convention Centre on 29-30 November 2023, the event featured activities such as exhibition, forum, competition, seminar, visitation and a government to government (G2G) meeting with the aim of fostering grassroots innovation in the ASEAN region and India. The forum was held in conjunction with the science fair and Techlympics, an information technology conference for high school students.
During the forum, Dr. Pranpreya Sriwannawit Lundberg, Director of International Policy Partnership Division at NXPO, represented Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation in the Policy and Partnership for Inclusive Development Seminar. She was joined by representatives from ASEAN member countries and the Government of India.
In her presentation, Dr. Pranpreya underscored the importance of establishing a poverty eradication policy to achieve the SDG 1, providing two projects initiated by NXPO – Ecotive and THIPA – as examples. Ecotive, a joint project between NXPO and Prince of Songkla University Pattani Campus launched in Pattani province, aims to cultivate a creative ecology that empowers local enterprises, whereas the Thailand Higher Education and Innovation Policy Accelerator (THIPA) is a policy accelerator designed to expedite the policy formulation and legitimization process. Although Thailand’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) score has improved considerably, its gross provincial product (GPP) data shows significant disparities between urban and rural areas. Social policies fostering local education and entrepreneurship, including grassroots innovation, therefore, represent a strategy to address local challenges, close the development gap, thereby reducing social disparities.
In the innovation competition, a grade-12 student from Montfort College, Thailand, won the top prize in the student innovator category for developing sanitary pads made of banana fibers coated with kaffir lime extract. Meanwhile, the Thai founder of Lemon Me Farm was awarded the second prize in the grassroots innovator category for creating a variety of products from lemons to expand business opportunities for lemon orchards.
In the G2G meeting. Dr. Pranpreya joined discussions focusing on strategies and action plans to deepen STI collaboration between ASEAN and India and the organization of the ASEAN-India Grassroots Innovation Forum 2024, scheduled to take place in Myanmar.
For more information on the ASEAN-India Grassroots Innovation Forum 2023, please visit: https://aigif2023.yim.my/.
