48
JUN 2017
FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
SPECIAL
FOCUS
economy and sustainable society, prominently featuring research,
innovation and creativity as drivers of the aspireddevelopment path.
• National Science, Technology and Innovation Master Plan
2012-2021 - Addressing the development of STI for economic
development, theplan is thefirstpolicy tosystematically include the issue
of innovation.
• 8
th
National Research Policy and Strategy Plan 2012-2016 -
Complementary to theprevious twodocumentsdevelopedby theNational
ResearchCouncil, thisplandefinesstrategiesandguidelines forpublicly
funded research and is the eighth versionof its kind.
Common toall of thesestrategies is theaimof creatingan innovation
systembasedon industrial researchclusters. Just asclustersof support
industriesweredeveloped tocater tomajor export sectors, theaimhere
is topromoteassociatedR&Dclusters tocontribute to innovation.Another
common feature in the R&D support is to create a favorable business
environment and toencourage corporateR&Dby offering, for example,
tax deductions and benefits for companies.
Along with the global trend, Thailand 4.0 is initiated to move the
country’s economy into thedigital erawithan initial budget of 3.7billion
baht,ormore than$100million,acknowledging thatThailand’s industrial
growth has so far passed three stages of economic evolution: Thailand
1.0 (anagriculture-basedeconomy),Thailand2.0 (a light industry-based
economybasedonassemblymanufacturing) andThailand3.0 (aheavy
industry-based economy). The Thailand 4.0 model seeks sustainable
prosperity for Thailand in the next century possibly by transforming the
country’s comparativeadvantage inbiological and cultural diversity into
competitiveadvantage. Flagshipprograms likeFood Innopolis–special
economiczoneunderclusterdevelopmentpolicy -was launched in2016
to stimulate innovationandgeared towardaglobal food innovation hub
andgateway toASEAN.
Malaysia
AsMalaysia aspires to become ahigh-income,
developed nation by 2020, the country has
identified STI as the key enabler to enhance
productivity and competitiveness as well as
catalyze inclusivegrowth.ThecommitmentofMalaysia inadvancing
science and technology is reflected with the formulation and
implementationof theFirst National ScienceandTechnologyPolicy
(1986-1989), the Industrial Technology Development: A National
Action Plan (1990-2001), and the Second National Science and
TechnologyPolicyandPlanofAction (2002-2010).Therearevarious
initiativesandprogrammes implementedunder thesepolicies. They
include: enhancement of R&D capabilities, forging partnerships
between public funded research organizations and industries, and
enhancement of commercialization and development of new
knowledge-based industries.
In2009, thegovernmentofMalaysia, through theNewEconomic
Model (NEM), adopted new and bold initiatives to ensure the
achievement of vision 2020. The broad directions of theNEM have
been incorporated into the Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) and
implemented through the Economic Transformation Programme
(ETP). In 2012, Malaysia has become one of the top 15 most
competitive economies in the world in the World Competitiveness
Yearbook (WCY)2012surveyconductedby Institute forManagement
Development (IMD). Thecountry isnowaiming tobeamong the top
10mostcompetitiveeconomiesgloballyby2020. Inorder tosucceed,
Malaysiamust innovate based on strong scientific fundamentals. A
key component, therefore, began with the policy on science,
technology and innovation and continued with a new broad-based
national policy for 2013-2020. The new policy describes an agenda
