He said the government was promoting the use of science and technology in business. This would add value to Thai industries and raise the country’s overall competitiveness.

“At Thailand Science Park, we work hand in hand with the private sector to support R&D activities,” he said.

“We act as a bridging agent to make it more convenient for private companies to conduct research and access the government’s supporting facilities and services. At Science Park, private firms are able to work together to add creative value to their products easily.”

There are currently about 70 private companies doing R&D in Thailand Science Park, of which two-thirds are small or medium-sized enterprises. About 30 per cent are foreign companies.

“Big companies have been acting as first movers in enhancing R&D to create new innovations, and that business practice has been followed by SMEs. They will then move the country’s economy forward.

“SMEs and start-ups are also a foundation for the country’s economic stability and better wealth distribution. Big, medium and small firms should connect together to create a strong innovation value chain and become a ‘Thailand Team’ to compete with rivals in the world market,” Janekrishna said.

He said Japan and South Korea were good examples of promoting connected innovation value chains to increase the competitiveness of their countries.

Janekrishna said the Thai government was trying to move the country forward in many dimensions. The launch of the Pracha Rath (State of the People) project, which entails a joint government-private-public working-committee approach, as key to promoting sustainable economic growth, is one of such mechanisms.

Others are the 300-per-cent tax deduction for companies allocating investment in research and development, granting the highest Board of Investment privileges for R&D activities, and government procurement in favour of innovative Thai products.

Food innovation is one of the super-clusters being promoted by the government. It recently signed a memorandum of understanding with universities and the private sector on the “Food Innopolis” as a growth engine to promote Thailand as a hub for food-related R&D.

“Thailand is getting ready to become a hub for research and development for food innovation. Food is one of the major industries of the country and involves a large number of people. It is a good idea of the government to promote the Food Innopolis project.

“At Thailand Science Park, we opened a Food & Feed Innovation Centre and Thailand Bio Resource Centre about a half month [two weeks] ago. The centres will help local companies create new innovations more easily and in a shorter period of time; the centres will also support companies doing research in Food Innopolis,” he said.