Thailand pivots Digital Strategies and Seeks to Grow Tech Sector with an impact on GDP

Thailand pivots Digital Strategies and

Seeks to Grow Tech Sector with an impact on GDP

BANGKOK, 21 September
2017 – Thailand is rolling out
a digitally-fuelled effort to enhance its economy and boost competitiveness.

The current aim for the
nation is to become Southeast Asia’s leader for all things digital. And the
Kingdom’s Ministry for Digital Economy and Society is striving to make this
happen through its Thailand 4.0 plan. Thailand 4.0 includes national
investments in digital infrastructure, regulatory changes to support innovation
and building networks of innovators within Thailand and across borders.

The desired result is
for Thailand to become the go-to destination for entrepreneurs from the world’s
innovation hubs to target Southeast Asia’s highly populated, fast-growing
economies. Thailand is seeking to generate 25 percent of GDP through the
digital technology industry by 2027.

“Our goal is to
demonstrate that Thailand is the best place in ASEAN for digital innovators to
invest, build businesses and to grow in Southeast Asia,” said Dr. Pichet
Durongkaveroj, Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister. “Thailand has
the creative talent, the entrepreneurial spirit – and with the full backing of
the government, has the right ecosystem in pace to foster success. Our message
to digital innovators around the world is to make Thailand your home base in
Southeast Asia. This will be good for both innovators and for people in
Thailand.” 

The Ministry of Digital
Economy and Society’s actions are already being felt in Thailand.

Thai villages will soon
benefit from these plans as the government has approved a national broadband
roll-out for nearly 75,000 Thai communities nationwide. Beyond the immediate
goal of giving everyone in Thailand access to high-speed internet, the
secondary aim is to connect all schools, hospitals, and municipalities. All of
this is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018. Once the roll-out is
complete, the government is planning to provide a variety of e-services, including
e-commerce for rural communities, e-health, e-education, and an e-agriculture
platform to help farmers better leverage the power of the Internet.

Thailand is also in the
process of building a project known as Digital Park, which will span nearly 280 acres in Chonburi province and will be a hub
for a variety of start-ups, the IoT industry as well as the base for Thailand’s
smart city initiatives.

Moreover, the government
has already begun to enhance connections with digital leaders across borders and
has fast tracked an ease of doing business initiative with regulatory
adjustments to optimize the environment for venture capitalists who specialize
in digital innovation.

This week, the country
is also hosting Southeast Asia’s largest digital and technological exhibition,
Digital Thailand Big Bang (DTBB) 2017, for all aspects of digital where
the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society will officially form partnerships
with the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development, International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and the General Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) in developing and
accessing investment for Thai digital start-ups and building cybersecurity.

The Digital Thailand Big
Bang (DTBB) exhibition is taking place at the IMPACT Convention Center in Muang
Thong Thani, September 21-24 2017. Start-up founders, venture capitalists
and executives from many of the world’s leading digital technology companies will
be in attendance. Start-ups from across Asia, Africa, Europe, the US and, of
course, Thailand will vie for prizes and funding. In addition, companies
developing AI, robotics, drone technology will demonstrate products and seek to
build commercial relationships.

It is all part of the
plan set forth by the Thai government to transform Thailand’s economy from one
based on manufacturing to one based on digital technology. This plan has firm
backing from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in an effort to catch the
attention of investors and innovators. in a population of numerous
digitally-savvy consumers. In addition to heavy social media usage, Thailand is
currently the third largest e-commerce market in the region, valued at US$900
million and is expected to increase its ecommerce business 12-fold to a value
of US$11.1 billion by 2025.

The Thai government is
also seeking to enhance its own digital credentials and aims to be in the Top
50 of the United Nations e-Government rankings. Thailand is also rolling out a
smart city plan, with initiatives set for Phuket, Chang Mai and Khon Kaen.

Dr. Pichet Durongkaveroj says that the
digitization investments that Thailand is making today will pay off for the
society in the years ahead.

“Thailand has the creativity and the
entrepreneurial spirit to be a digital hub in Southeast Asia, particularly for
businesses that require high levels of creative inputs,” said Dr. Pichet
Durongkaveroj. “Thai private enterprises have also performed well in becoming
regional, and in setting up successful businesses across the diverse markets in
ASEAN. This is another strength we offer for digital companies with Southeast
Asia in their sites.”

For more information on DTBB 2017 and its
program, please visit www.digitalthailandbigbang.com.

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About Digital Thailand Big Bang 2017

Digital Thailand Big Bang 2017 is the largest
digital summit in South East Asia, hosted by the Digital Economy Promotion
Agency (DEPA) under authority of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of
Thailand. The summit, hosted under theme of “Digital Transformation Thailand”
and with an event space of 40,000 square meters, features exhibitions, meetings
and seminars and competition. The exhibition area is divided to four zones
including Digital Startups, Digital Services, Digital Entrepreneurs, and Global
Network.

The summit is
organized between 21st – 24th September 2017
from 09:00 – 20:00 hrs
daily at Challenger 1 -2,
IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center, Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok,
Thailand.