Bitkub Capital Group Holdings and the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) have signed a memorandum of understanding to prepare Thailand's youth for the digital economy era and Web 3.0.
Jirayut Srupsrisopa, chief executive of Bitkub, and Sinit Lertkrai, deputy commerce minister, met on Wednesday to confirm their partnership to improve the "From Gen Z to CEO" programme, a training event that started in 2020 to provide entrepreneurial skills to the younger generation as well as internship opportunities in foreign countries.
Bitkub provides lessons for specific skills in the programme related to Web 3.0, specifically information regarding blockchain, artificial intelligence, the metaverse, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens.
Bitkub is expected to assist the programme by allowing certain participants to have internships within Bitkub as well as provide additional funding to the scheme.
Since the project began two years ago, more than 28,000 people have taken part.
"Thailand cannot sustain itself with old industries such as tourism forever," said Mr Jirayut.
"The digital consumer boom the past two years has shown Thailand can look forward to the next growth engine in the digital economy by becoming the digital hub of Asean."
He said the largest hurdle for Thailand to achieve this goal is the lack of human capital as the country needs more people with industry-specific skills.
Mr Jirayut said even Bitkub lacks a sufficient quantity of skilled workers.
He said Bitkub and DITP decided to focus on the younger generation because they are more attuned to new technologies as they grew up with smartphones and the internet.