Software Park eyes global gateway status

Software Park eyes global gateway status

Software Park Thailand hopes to be a "global software gateway" for local software firms, thereby generating annual revenue of 3 billion baht by 2016.

Chalermpol Tuchinda, the newly appointed director of the state information technology (IT) body under the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), said Software Park will act as a matchmaker between its alliance partners in Japan, China, Malaysia and Indonesia with local firms.

It plans to build at least 200 new software firms, particularly for mobile and social apps.

It is also on the verge of expanding its Asean membership for its newly set-up alliance software co-incubation centre.

The current three members are Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Mr Chalermpol said rapidly changing technology and the proliferation of mobile devices have had a huge effect on the software industry, necessitating a change to online subscriptions from the traditional licensing model.

To survive in the digital world, Thai software firms have had to reshape their business models, restructure their organisations and expand their online marketing channels, he said.

"Thai firms should be fully prepares for the advent of the Asean Economic Community in 2016," said Mr Chalermpol.

Thailand could become a software outsourcing hub for Indochina due to its geographical location and IT skills.

Software Park plans to apply software to make Thailand more competitive in the food, healthcare and agriculture industries.

The agency and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center will jointly introduce the Thailand One Click project, a portal site for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises.

NSTDA president Thaweesak Koanantakool said the software industry plays an important role in furthering the government's policy of moving Thailand beyond the "middle-income trap".

Thailand's software industry was valued at 41 billion baht last year.

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