Dr Chachanat Thebtaranonth, 61, the deputy chief of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), has a mission: commercialising home-grown technologies.

Chachanat, who is also the director of the NSTDA's Technology Management Centre (TMC), says these efforts will lead to more sustainable economic development, consistent with His Majesty's the King's initiatives on the sufficiency economy.

"We need advances in science and technology to further develop our communities, society and national economy," she said.

"In my view, technology transfer is a two-way street. First, it's taking innovations from the labs to the market. Second, the actual market demands could also lead the labs to create new products and services. Now, the second path is better because it's on demand and we don't have to leave innovations on the shelves," says the former chemistry professor from Mahidol University.

Chachanat, who earned her PhD in chemistry from Liverpool University and did post-doctoral work at Cornell University, notes that science and technology (S&T) continue to drag down Thailand's international competitiveness, as determined by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), because national spending in this crucial field is insufficient.

"Currently, our annual S&T budget is only 0.26 per cent of GDP, compared to 2-3 per cent for developed nations. In addition, state spending accounts for two-thirds of the total amount whereas our private sector's spending is just one-third," she said. "In fact, the private sector should have accounted for a bigger ratio of total S&T spending than that of the public sector, as in developed countries. So our policy objective is to help the Thai private sector catch up."

Most of the 400,000 Thai industrial enterprises are labour- and skill-intensive with only a small number of them capable of utilising technology or investing in research and development.

"I think these operators are now aware of the importance of S&T but not many are capable of turning to S&T to increase their competitiveness. So our industrial-technology assistance programme has helped more than 1,000 firms in the past few years," she said.

Chachanat added: "In 2007 we aim to work with another 400 small and medium-sized enterprises nationwide. In addition, we have the licensing unit for transferring innovation to the private sector. The latest licensing agreement was signed with a Thai firm for the local production of titanium dental implants, using a new technique resulting in a significant cost-saving when compared to imported products. Our target is to enter into an average of 10 licensing deals per year."

The entire NSTDA has over 2,000 staff members, more than half researchers with master's and doctoral degrees.

Altogether, NSTDA's units - namely, Mtech (materials science), Nectec (electronics and computing), Biotech (life science) and Nanotech - have about 60 labs.

The units also hold about 250 patents as well as over 100 copyrighted software applications and other copyrights.

Chachanat says the NSTDA's science park last year also served as the incubator for 10 enterprises, while renting space to 44 young firms so that they could have convenient access to NSTDA researchers and facilities.

These operators are undertaking a total of 116 projects, with an estimated economic value of over Bt3 billion per year, employing 223 researchers.

This year, one of the biggest challenges is to commercialise home-grown technology for making solar cells able to capture 15.8 per cent of sunlight and convert it into energy.

Another potential success is breathing packaging materials which keep vegetables and other produce fresh significantly longer than existing packaging.

Betagro, one of Thailand's largest agro-industrial groups, has committed to invest around Bt200 million in a brand-new research and development centre inside the science park near Bangkok.

Chachanat says the NSTDA is awaiting government approval to open two new branches of the science park in the Northeast and South of Thailand.

The Board of Investment now recognises the potential of promoting science parks as a magnet to foreign investment.

Instead of labour-intensive or skill-intensive industries, the country should focus more on setting up research and development centres here, she says.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

nop1122@yahoo.com