Sipa to promote khon kaen as indochina hub

Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation

Khon Kaen

Khon Kaen province will soon become a landmark location for the software industry for northeastern Thailand and Indochina.

Several government agencies and the private sector will cooperate in setting up the Software Industrial Estate and Science Park Khon Kaen, with a view to boosting the regional software industry.

Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) president Rungruang Limchoopatipa said the agency was collaborating with Khon Kaen University, Investment and Economic Centre 3 (Khon Kaen) of the Board of Investment (BoI), the Khon Kaen Industrial Estate and the private sector in setting up the Software Industrial Estate over the next few years. It will be located on 500 rai of land at Khon Kaen University.

Rungruang said Sipa had a mission to boost the potential and competitiveness of the software industry in Khon Kaen and northeastern Thailand and make it a software an information and communications technology (ICT) hub for Indochina.

This is necessary in order to develop economies of scale and enhance the quality of life for people in the region.

"This is a great opportunity for us to promote the ICT and software industries in the region and make it a hub for local businesses to scale up to the international market in countries like Laos, Vietnam, China and Cambodia," Rungruang said.

Thawatchai Khotwong, manager of Sipa's Khon Kaen office, said Sipa would set up a national incubation and training centre at the Software Industrial Estate, to expedite human-resource, digital-content and software development and mobile and e-services technology.

The estate will develop strategies focused on four areas - enterprise software, animation and multimedia, digital content and embedded software - to serve the domestic and regional markets.

"We believe Khon Kaen province can become a software-industry hub for Indochina within the next three to six years" Thawatchai said.

There are more than 60 ICT and software companies in Khon Kaen, he said. Four software companies from Khon Kaen will provide software-development and -management services for the 25th Sea Games to be held in Laos next year.

"We'll sign a memorandum of understanding next month to develop, support and expand the software market in Laos," Thawatchai said.

Chutima Phumsrisawat, director of the BoI's Regional Investment and Economic Centre 3 (Khon Kaen), said the agency planned to support local ICT and software companies with tax incentives and provide services to foreigners coming to the region with business interests.

Prof Supachai Pathumnakul of Khon Kaen University said the university would collaborate with the National Science and Technology Development Agency and other universities, including Suranaree University of Technology, Maha Sarakham University and Ubon Ratchathani University, in setting up Science Park Khon Kaen as a science and technology industrial park.