BANGKOK, THAILAND  - 12 January 2024 - H.E. Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (HESI) of Thailand, has stated the outcome, results, and achievements of the first 3-month in office, as well as giving policy outlines of the Thai science, technology, and innovation (STI) system in strengthening Thailand's future development in the event "Future Thailand", together with more than 800 key individuals, comprising of presidents of universities from all over the country, public sector executives and leaders of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), and researchers in the Thai STI system.

Minister Supamas states that during the first 3 months of the current administration of MHESI, the Ministry has placed the policy groundwork and driven many important initiatives into action, to suit the needs of students, families, entrepreneurs, and the general public. The TCAS university admission fees have been exempted for students wishing to enroll in universities, and the THEOS-2 Satellite has been successfully launched into orbit, bolstering the recognition of MHESI. In addition, universities' research and innovation outputs are being applied into practical commercial utilization, the Futurium Innovation Center has been established to facilitate Thai youths to compete internationally in STI, startup enterprises are supported, and electric vehicles designed and manufactured in Thailand developed for widespread use. Moreover, the AI system for Thai citizens (Open Thai GPT) and the "Traffy Fondue" problem-reporting platform for public affairs have been enacted and utilized. Thai universities and all MHESI agencies nationwide are to be gratefully thanked for these achievements.

Today, the Future Thailand Event is launched to brainstorm useful suggestions and policy inputs from more than 800 university presidents, MHESI executives, and researchers from all around the country, as key actors to determine the course of Thailand's higher education, science, research and innovation policies, geared towards national development and advancement. Future Thailand looks forward into Thailand's future course of development by hearing desired outcomes from representatives, university lecturers and professors, researchers and private sector actors, as well as opening up to suggestions to pave the way forward from the insights of the leadership of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand - for all 4 groups of universities - and affirming the readiness of MHESI staff in driving our country forward.

In addition, H.E. Minister Supamas has also given additional key directions for future undertakings of the Ministry, identifying them as [good education, happy living, adequate income, and effective research and innovation to address society's concerns]. Correspondingly, nine key points for future efforts of the ministry have been outlined: 1.) All citizens who wish to study must be able to receive quality education accordingly. 2.) Education should contribute to happiness, income, and economic opportunities of the people. 3.) Research and innovation shall be carried out for the benefit of all Thai citizens. 4.) MHESI Fair Events will promote Thailand's innovation products, and introduce them to the global market. 5.) Thailand shall aim for the establishment of a leading museum of innovations within the ASEAN Community. 6.) Each sub-province (Amphoe) shall have at least one trademark innovation of its own. 7.) Thailand's space endeavors will be opened up to new possibilities. 8.) MHESI and the STI ecosystem will enhance and propel Thailand's soft power to international recognitions. 9.) New funds and grants will be established to support and assist researchers and universities.

For each of the focal initiatives, there will be main strategic plans and responsible agencies. The Future Thailand event is participated by university presidents, government executives and the leadership of MHESI from all over Thailand. All key actors have demonstrated the capacity of MHESI in driving forward Thailand's future, and will play key roles in taking care of the national higher education, science and innovation system. The Minister is confident that MHESI will significantly strengthen Thailand's knowledge-centric system.

As such, towards the aforementioned policy goals, H.E. Supamas has stated that there will be support from presidents of Thai universities in the following 6 key agendas:

1. To reform the curricular system, especially in fields with high demand, to allow students to graduate before the traditional 4-year curriculum.

2. To reform the education and learning system to include and promote new skillsets that are essential to today's work, such as AI, Data Science, Cloud, Coding, and e-commerce.

3. To jointly establish new curricula that enable exponential learning and entrepreneurial education, such as cooperative and work-integrated education or extra-campus activities.

4. To jointly set up a "skill transcript" system to help students identify acquired skills in each year, and promoting enhancement and refinement of such skills.

5. To establish a National Credit Bank systems, to promote and facilitate lifelong learning amongst Thai citizens.

6. To support and stimulate education, teaching, research, funding, and establishment of testing centers, that promote the usage of electric vehicles (EV) and encourage the growth of the Thai EV industry. Higher education institutes are strongly recommended to use EV in its internal affairs, especially campus public transit buses or common transportations.

Moreover, H.E. Supamas also added that it is delightful to see that MHESI and the Thai STI system has many high-quality personnel that are awarded with various prizes. As such, MHESI recognizes and applauds its awarded staff and members, as well as those who will be receiving important awards in the future. Recognitions are given to inventors, scientists, and researchers who have received prizes from six international invention contests have been given to 151 esteemed researchers, as well as 35 outstanding higher education members. MHESI highly regards and congratulates Thai STI personnel and scholars who have earned other important prizes as well.

"Our past work, our upcoming initiatives, our policies for universities, and the readiness and capacity of MHESI personnel, all of these add to my optimism and confidence that our MHESI shall play an important role in the development and rapid advancement of Thailand", affirmed the Minister.

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