TSRI to help establish 10,000 tech startups

Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) plans to contribute to the development of 10,000 new technology startups within two years.
The move is to drive the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups to serve the industries of artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles (EVs), and the bio-circular-green (BCG) economy, according to Dr Sirirurg Songsivilai, chairman of the National Commission on Science, Research and Innovation.
He added that TSRI has classified existing research projects into three categories.
The first is the fundamental fund, covering the basics of physics and chemistry projects, while the second is the strategic fund, covering sectorial purposes pertaining to around 50 issues.
The third one is the targeted fund, which is a new category focusing on urgent issues, and certain results of the projects are expected to be finished within the next two to three years.
The development of 10,000 new tech startups is one of eight projects in the targeted fund category.
Dr Sirirurg said the tech startup project is to help boost the capability of both pre-seed and seeded startups through facilitating the ease of starting a business and providing financial support.
He said TSRI’s collaboration with related agencies would help ease the burden for the targeted tech startups, facilitate their intellectual property (IP) possession, and reduce complications in the process to deal with supporting fund owners.
TSRI will also help the startups easily access funds via its collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion.
TSRI support includes incubating the startups’ products and services to ease testing constraints. It will support the delivery of the products to market at a cost-effective price even without a large production capacity.
The development of the targeted fund’s eight projects started this month. They mainly focus on economic, public health and environmental dimensions.
All eight research projects are set to yield results within the next two to three years, Dr Sirirurg added.
In addition to the startup project, among the seven other projects is one related to PM2.5, with a focus on eight provinces in the Northern region.
Another refers to water management, covering floods, drought, the availability of clean water and uncontaminated water. The project initially focuses on 10 district-based areas.
Another involves upskilling in the area of digital literacy for 100,000 people within two years, targeting upcountry individuals and state employees.
Among the other projects is a project aimed at eradicating sources of bile duct and liver cancer in Thailand, while another involves research into reducing imports of health service equipment and devices, such as the importation of liver fluke test kits, with the expectation of reducing the value of such imports by 1 billion baht within two years.
The government set up the National Commission on Science, Research and Innovation four years ago to develop programmes concerning science, research and innovation promotion in Thailand through collaboration with other agencies.
The commission operates under the National Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Policy Council, chaired by the prime minister.
Dr Sirirurg said the commission has adjusted its operations to be a key entity to develop research that can help drive economic recovery and build the nation’s future.