Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently hosted a high-level meeting between key agencies under the two ministries to set the direction of international collaboration to drive Thailand’s national agenda on Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy. Representing NXPO at this meeting was NXPO President Dr. Kitipong Promwong. 

Dr. Kitipong briefed the meeting of the BCG policy and strategy as utilizing the BCG concept to enhance the competitiveness of four key sectors, namely agriculture and food, energy and biomaterial, wellness and medicine, and tourism and service industry. The goal is to raise the economic value of these sectors from 3.4 billion THB to 4.4 billion THB in five years, by employing technology and innovation to create value to biological and cultural diversity and promote sustainability. While the country possesses technical capacity to process farm commodities such as sugarcane, oil palm and starch crops to value-added products, Thailand needs to build capability in advanced technology such as biorefinery to turn these commodities to high-value products such as biochemicals, bioplastics, biopharmaceuticals and bioenergy. International collaboration is therefore vital to raise the technical capability.  

The meeting discussed policies of some countries that are in line with BCG direction and that Thailand can explore collaboration. Japan has rolled out Green Growth Strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and set to phase out gasoline-powered cars in favor of hybrid and electric vehicles by 2030. Korea has made an announcement to elevate collaboration with ASEAN which can pave the ways for Thailand to seek collaboration in the area of health research and partnership in higher education such as joint degree programs and staff exchange programs in STI. Singapore has some programs that can be linked with Thailand such as green finance, startup promotion and education reform. The US is a potential partner in the areas of clean energy and modern agriculture/smart farming, whereas opportunity in the areas of artificial intelligence, quantum technology and genomics can be explored with China. 

The meeting concluded with Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) agreeing to represent MHESI to work with the Department of International Economic Affairs of MFA to develop a strategic plan for BCG international collaboration.