Event brings together Thai, French figures wanting to expand in the fields of aerospace, agribusiness and creative industry
François Corbin from MEDEF International (left), Sirirurg Songsivilai Thailand's Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (second left), and Tana Weskosith, Thailand's ambassador to France (third left). pose for a group photo at the launch of 'Franco-Thai Innovation and Startup Week 2023' in Paris. (Photo:EDA)
The National Innovation Agency of Thailand (NIA) and the Royal Thai Embassy in Paris are this week staging "Franco-Thai Innovation and Startup Week 2023," a joint project with the Thai Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation.
The April 24 to 28 event is part of activities marking the Franco-Thai Year of Innovation 2023, announced in Bangkok at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in November last year.
For the NIA, the objective of this year is not only "to learn from a leading innovation country like France" but also to invite "another look at the development of the Thai innovation ecosystem."
Eventually, according to the NIA, "France and Thailand aim to become strategic partners in 2024."
According to the organizers, the Franco-Thai week, taking place at Station F, the world's largest startup incubator, based in Paris, "brings together public and private figures, such as French and Thai investors and entrepreneurs, interested in expanding in the fields of aerospace, agribusiness and creative industry."
Over 300 years of Franco-Thai relations
This week's event was introduced by Tana Weskosith, Thailand's ambassador to France, who said "the activities launched during this week are key factors that will connect business potential between France and Thailand" to "further develop cooperation" between the two countries.
"Representatives from the innovation and startup sectors are gathered here in Paris for the first time, to showcase Thai business communities and their ability to collaborate," he said.
"As the power of innovation and creativity knows no boundaries, I hope Thailand and France will continue this momentum to realize innovative partnerships," he added.
Sirirurg Songsivilai, permanent secretary of Thailand's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, told attendees that "the relationship between France and Thailand, which dates back more than three centuries, has been marked particularly by economic and cultural exchanges that have fostered greater mutual understanding and respect."
"In recent years, our partnerships have become even stronger," he said.
"To further this collaboration, both countries have launched startup incubators, innovation hubs and joint events to create a collaborative environment. This reciprocal exchange of knowledge, expertise and ideas will continue to push both countries towards more innovation and economic opportunities," he added.
Southeast Asia, the world's economic powerhouse
Olivier Becht, France's Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, said that when Thailand and France decided to organize a joint Year of Innovation, it was with the simple objective in mind, "to strengthen our bilateral innovations and to inscribe our collaboration in the very long term."
"We have chosen to place at the heart of our relations an area of future innovation, particularly in four sectors: space, health, environment and cultural and creative industries," he said.
He also said that French startups and French tech players have a lot to learn from Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.
"French tech players cannot think global without thinking about Southeast Asia, a real global economic lung, and Thailand is a gateway," he said.
François Corbin, vice-president of MEDEF International and special representative of the Minister of European and Foreign Affairs for economic relations with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), said he saw a lot of potential in the Franco-Thai partnership.
"I am personally convinced that the Thais and the French have a lot to do together," he said.
"For me, Thailand is a very promising country. You are in the heart of Asia, and in my opinion, Asia is the most promising area in the world for the coming years, in terms of economic growth," Corbin told the gathering.
One of the largest exporters of agri-food products
During the event, organizers held a panel discussion on the theme "Food for the future" to introduce the actors of Thai agri-food innovation.
During this discussion, Jittrapon Jirakulsomchok, from Thailand's National Innovation Agency (NIA), spoke about the creation of "Space F," the first agribusiness startup incubator in Thailand.
"In 2019, NIA started researching the Thai startup ecosystem as a whole, and we found that at the time, even though we were known as one of the biggest agribusiness exporters in the world, we had very few agribusiness players in the ecosystem," he said, explaining the origin of "Space F."
According to him, NIA has managed to support more than 44 local startups since 2019. The program also has two French startups that have launched in Thailand.
"Today, we brought two of our promising agribusiness startups," Jittrapon Jirakulsomchok said.
One of them was called Flo, a company founded by biologists and plant scientists. This Thai food startup sells products based on wolffia, dwarf duckweed presented as a "food of the future."
Wisuwat Songnuan, co-founder of the company, introduced the business by asking, "The world is faced with this question: how to feed everyone, with almost 8 billion people on this earth, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050?"
"We have been working on plant nutrition for more than twenty years, and we think about tomorrow's foods almost every day," said Wisuwat, convinced that she had found the best solution with Wolffia globosa, which is said to be the smallest flowering plant in the world and the fastest growing.
"It is a local wisdom from Thailand, it is very versatile and its composition is close to that of animal proteins," she said, hoping for potential collaboration with France.
According to François Corbin, from MEDEF International, "The world cannot be reduced to China and the United States as we see in the press".
"I think it is in the common interest of Asia and the European Union to work together and develop our relations," he said.
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