The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Office has teamed up with two Swiss companies to upgrade human resources in the high technology and medical industries in a move to accelerate Thailand's economic and social development in the corridor.
According to Kanit Sangsubhan, secretary-general of the EEC Office, the office signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on Monday with the two Swiss partners. The first MoU is with ABB Electrification (Thailand) and ABB Automation (Thailand), the local operations of ABB.
The EEC and ABB will collaborate to establish the ABB Academy -- a training centre to improve EEC workers' skills in electrification, automation solutions and EV battery charging systems, said Mr Kanit.
The training should improve the skills of personnel working in areas of the EEC such as EEC Silicon Valley, Rayong Tech Park and ABB Innovation Centre in Bang Poo, Samut Prakan, he said.
The training is meant to create 1,000 highly skilled personnel within two years to create jobs to support the Industry 4.0 scheme in EEC areas.
According to Mr Kanit, the second MoU was signed with Roche (Thailand) Co and the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University.
The EEC and these two partners aim to advance the use of personalised cancer care to treat cancer patients more effectively.
The EEC will cooperate with Siriraj Hospital and Roche to employ high-level, global standard technology in comprehensive genomic profiling of cancer biopsy to choose cancer therapy plans that are even more precise and more effective, he said.
The data derived from this cooperation will be an essential part of driving policies to support the precision and personalised therapy technology to be well-known and accessible, said Mr Kanit.
"This MoU aims to initiate advanced research, develop an understanding of technology, and promote an ecosystem that will increase access to novel therapeutics such as advanced therapy medicinal products," he said.
Mr Kanit said these novel technologies and treatments will be made available to cancer patients in Thailand, with the aim to strengthen the country's medical service sector and its position as a medical hub of Asia-Pacific.
He said the cooperation is in line with the EEC's strategic plan for the next five years. The EEC is aiming to make 2.2 trillion baht (US$66 billion) in investments, focusing on five industries comprising digitisation business related to 5G, decarbonisation related to BCG, healthcare and well-being business, the modernisation of logistic links to Southeast Asia, and development of the liveable smart city.
"Automation and digital are key investments to build a sustainable industry in the EEC. Since the EEC provided a 5G signal covering 100% of the area, every factory, business and city can use it to improve their business practices and productivity," said Mr Kanit.