US science pact gets changes

US science pact gets changes

The Science and Technology Ministry says it needs more time to prepare for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on science and technology collaboration with the United States.

The ministry had initially planned to supervise the signing of a MoU between its US counterpart and a private Thai organisation.

But a new proposal has since been made to change the format of the MoU into a state-to-state agreement.

This new arrangement is more complicated than the original plan and needs more time to organise, Science and Technology Minister Woravat Au-apinyakul said.

On Tuesday last week, the cabinet approved a proposal to sign the MoU between Thailand and the US to promote bilateral cooperation on science and technology.

The MoU would also include intellectual property rights protection.

Mr Woravat said that even though the MoU would be a state-to-state agreement, it would not require parliamentary approval under Section 190 of the constitution.

He declined to elaborate on why such an agreement should be exempt from parliamentary endorsement.

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