PM, Microsoft talk about investment

Microsoft's top executive Jean-Philippe Courtois has had a meeting with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to confirm the multinational giant's commitments to continued investment in Thailand.

Microsoft International's president and senior vice president, Courtois and Prime Minister Abhisit met in private last Friday.

Courtois leads global sales, marketing and services for Microsoft International, a territory that spans 100 subsidiaries operating in more than 240 countries and territories outside the United States and Canada. As president of Microsoft International, he drives strategic planning, global operations and key growth initiatives in developed and emerging markets.

His responsibilities also include Microsoft's worldwide public sector and communication sector businesses, which deliver strategic, high-value solutions to governments and telecommunications companies around the world.

The commitments discussed with the prime minister included a five-year extension of the Partner e-Learning project, a re-training project involving 2 million unemployed workers in Thailand, and a three-year joint research and development project with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec).

Under the Partner e-Learning project, the company will extend what is normally only a five-year project for a second five years, from 2009 to 2013.

In the re-training project, Microsoft will provide computer and software-skills training for 2 million unemployed workers in Thailand, at local communities throughout the country.

The three-year joint research and development project with Nectec is an effort to boost software research and development in Thailand. Microsoft is to collaborate with Nectec in three areas: assistive technologies, developing Nectec's "Digitised Thailand" project and software testing.

Microsoft (Thailand)'s managing director Patama Chantaruk said three-year budgets for the re-training project for 2 million unemployed workers and the joint research and development project with Nectec had already been approved by the company's headquarters in the United States.

The company plans to set up another research and development centre in Thailand, after having chosen this country to establish its first healthcare research centre outside the US. It is possible, after this collaboration, that the next such centre will cover the areas of agriculture and education, she said.