NXPO President Dr. Kitipong Promwong participated in the 2020 Community of International Science-Industry Parks Forum (CISIP Forum) which was held virtually on 2 December 2020. Organized by Great Wall Enterprise Institute and China Association for Science and Technology, the forum aims to serve and facilitate sustainable growth of science and technology parks, incubation centers and innovation organizations.  

In his talk, Dr. Kitipong described science park as an important engine employed by countries along the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) to drive social and economic growth with the focus on innovation. In developing countries where innovation ecosystem is not sufficiently effective to foster interaction between players, science parks play a pivotal role as a conduit for the transfer of knowledge and technology between academic/research institutes and entrepreneurs/industry and facilitate international collaboration in research and innovation. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to drive innovation. Strong policy and interaction between players in the ecosystem are essential to drive innovation during crisis, and the establishment of CISIP will enhance the capacity of science parks and offer new business opportunities. 

Dr. Kitipong also shared the concept of Route No.1 Innovation Economic Corridor, the government’s initiative to develop innovation economic zones in Thailand to link BRI and Mekong – Lancang Cooperation by positioning regional science parks as innovation hubs to support economic development in each region of Thailand.