The Ministry of Science and Technology hopes to increase the budget for research that supports national strategy, in particular for developing targeted industries.
Science and Technology Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said the ministry planned to divide the annual budget this year for research into three categories -- national strategy, knowledge and scientific infrastructure and human resources.
This will help public researchers to focus more on each topic, especially national strategy related to industries the government is trying to promote.
The measure aims to fix the problem that most research in the public sector is only conducted for academic purposes but very little research is commercialised, he said.
The ministry is in the process of setting the budget that will be allocated to each topic.
"Personally, I think national strategy should receive the highest portion because it relates to the country's competitiveness," said Mr Pichet.
Last year, the public sector accounted for 20 billion baht of the total budget for research, which is managed by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), the body responsible for the implementation of research-related matters, he said.
Research topics from all researchers in the public sector are submitted to the NRCT, which grants the budget.
For research related to national strategy, the ministry will consult with the Pracha Rat (People's State) committee, which consists of representatives from the private sector such as the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Thai Industries.
Mr Pichet said the ministry will maintain the target of investment in research and development (R&D) at 1% of GDP next year.
He said this was a significant improvement compared with the investment of 0.25% of GDP in the past.
"We kept pushing for that target and right now with various measures from the Board of Investment (BoI), we believe the private sector will invest more in R&D as well," said Mr Pichet.
The present administration is the first government that has set innovation as the main driver of the country's development and also pushed for many policies to encourage investment in R&D, he said.
The ministry is also in talks with the BoI about offering tax incentives for companies that accept students to work at their facilities as a part of a work-integrated learning programme, Mr Pichet said.