Japan is making Thailand its new innovation hub

BANGKOK, March 23 (TNA) -- The Industry Ministry and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) are promoting Thailand as Japan’s new overseas innovation hub. Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana said the collaboration happened partly under the Open Innovation Columbus project as METI was bringing Japanese startups to Thailand to develop innovations with their Thai counterparts. The project implementation would start in the second quarter of this year with 30 Thai startups to develop innovations with Japanese partners, he said. Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, would visit Thailand in May to follow up the collaboration project. He would have a ministerial meeting and discuss relevant issues with concerned authorities, Mr Uttama said. The cooperation between METI and the Industry Ministry also covered the Lean Automation System Integrator (LASIs) project to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand and Japan to use Internet of Things technologies to reach Thailand’s neighbouring countries and other international markets. Sixty companies of Japan will transfer the technologies to 33 Thai SMEs in 11 industries. (TNA)