ICT forum eyed as FDI springboard

ICT forum eyed as FDI springboard

Government seeking tech start-up boost

The government is hopeful an upcoming global forum for the information and communication technology (ICT) industry will provide an avenue for foreign direct investment (FDI) from global tech companies.

The ITU Telecom World Forum 2016, to be held in Bangkok from Nov 14-17, will also allow the Thai government to update its digital economic policy, said Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

The government has assigned the ICT Ministry to handle the four-day event at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

The NBTC will sponsor the ITU Forum with a budget of 300 million baht.

A national committee has also been set up to prepare for and manage the event.

Mr Takorn said Thailand had been selected by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the destination for this year's forum.

November's event will constitute the third time Thailand has been selected to host the ITU event. The first time was in 2008 under the "New Generation New Values" concept, and the second was in 2013, when the event was held under the theme of "Embracing Change in a Digital World".

This year's forum is expected to vastly benefit the country's ICT-related industries and boost the domestic start-up industry, Mr Takorn said.

An official agreement to host the event is set to be signed on May 16 between ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana, NBTC chairman ACM Tares Punsri and ITU secretary-general Houlin Zhao.

Mr Takorn said up to 100,000 people were expected to participate in the event.

The forum will bring together key stakeholders including governments, operators and industry partners to work on ensuring that technology and infrastructure are meeting the demands of a digital society.

Both large and small investors, along with innovators, are expected to participate. One aim is to create opportunities for local companies, especially tech start-ups, which are believed to have a lot of potential.

Mr Takorn said the development of the country's digital economy required participants from both the private and public sectors as well as young entrepreneurs in order to help create and develop new and innovative services.

In another development, the GSM Association, a London-based group of mobile operators devoted to supporting the standardisation, deployment and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system, has released its new report about Advancing Digital Societies in Asia.

The report focused on the digital society initiatives in seven Asian countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand.

As part of their analysis, each market was assessed on its levels of connectivity, digital citizenship, digital lifestyle and digital commerce. Countries were then grouped into three categories reflecting the divergent nature of the region's digital penetration -- emerging digital societies, transitional digital societies and advanced digital societies.

Thailand and Indonesia are considered transitional digital societies, with digitalisation in this group focused on the personalisation of services that facilitate engagement between individuals and institutions.

Countries in this category are in need of digital services to tackle the social, infrastructural and environmental issues arising as a result of rapid urbanisation, the report said.

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