Established under the auspices of NXPO as one of the research funding agencies, Program Management Unit for National Competitiveness Enhancement (PMU-C) aims to utilize technology and innovation to improve competitiveness of Thai industry by bridging the gap between research and commercialization.  

Speaking at a recent seminar, Assoc. Prof. Siree Chaiseri, PMU-C Director, revealed that the unit focuses on supporting translational research performed jointly by scientists and the industry to ensure the technology meeting the requirements and specifications of the industry, thus warranting its real-world application. In addition, PMU-C also finances infrastructure projects such as pilot plants as well as capacity building in scaling up laboratory to industrial processes. 

Currently, the funding scope covers seven industrial sectors: 1) agriculture and food focusing on high-value products such as functional ingredients, natural products and health food products; cold chain system; and farming and food processing machinery; 2)  tourism and creative economy focusing on management system for tourism, culture and heritage; 3) energy, biochemical and biomaterial focusing on renewable energy, bioenergy, bioplastics and biochemicals; 4) digital platform focusing on digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI); 5) circular economy (CE) focusing on CE technology and CE value chain collaboration; 6) the future of mobility, robotics and automation focusing on electric vehicle, rail transport, aviation, robotics and automation; and 7) wellness and medicine focusing on the development, manufacturing and registration process of drugs, biopharmaceuticals, cell therapies and medical devices. 

One year into operation, PMU-C has supported a number of innovations that draw interest from local and international companies such as xanthone extract from mangosteen pericarp, development of functional ingredient industry, rehabilitation robot for the elderly and stroke patients, strategy to develop Thailand into a wellness destination, SARS-CoV-2 Test Kit (Real-time RT-PCR) and a recombinant acellular pertussis vaccine.  

Dr. Siree concluded that science, technology and innovation hold enormous potential to create additional value to products and services and take Thailand into an innovation-based economy.