Yodchanan Wongsawat says Thailand will ease regulatory hurdles while expanding cooperation Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Yodchanan Wongsawat speaks to The Korea Herald on Wednesday at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald) Thailand is seeking to build a comprehensive biotechnology partnership with South Korea in linking universities, startups and major corporations between the two countries, while easing regulatory hurdles for Korean companies looking to enter the Thai market, Deputy Prime Minister Yodchanan Wongsawat said.Wongsawat, who also serves as Thailand’s minister of higher education, science, research and innovation, said cooperation should go beyond attracting individual Korean companies and instead create a broader ecosystem encompassing talent development, research, commercialization and investment.“We try to do talent management and human resource matching,” Wongsawat told The Korea Herald in an exclusive interview Wednesday on the sidelines of the Thailand-Korea Business Forum in Seoul.He said researchers, engineers and healthcare professionals from the two countries could jointly develop medical technologies before turning the resulting innovations into startups or joint ventures capable of entering Thailand and other markets.Korea’s universities, including Seoul National University, KAIST and POSTECH, could play a central role in building such a framework, he said.Cooperation to be extended to commercial levelAt the startup level, Wongsawat said Thailand was exploring joint incubation programs involving government agencies and private incubators in the two countries.Thai startups, he added, could gain access to international investment and overseas markets through Korean partners, while Korean investors could use cooperation with Thai companies to identify technologies and products with growth potential across Southeast Asia.The Thai government also plans to address regulatory barriers that Korean companies may face when entering the country.Wongsawat acknowledged that regulations and administrative paperwork could pose obstacles for investors, but said Thai government agencies, including the National Innovation Agency, would help facilitate collaboration and the entry of new products into the market. Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Yodchanan Wongsawat poses for a photo on Wednesday at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul, ahead of an interview with The Korea Herald. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald) Thailand could also complement Korea’s biomedical capabilities by offering access to a diverse patient population and clinical data, he said.Joint clinical trials, for example, could give researchers in both countries access to cases that may not be sufficiently available domestically, accelerating the development of medical devices and other health products.Wongsawat's visit culminated in tangible discussions with local research institutes.The deputy prime minister said discussions with Seoul National University during his visit included the possibility of sharing databases for clinical research.He also highlighted Thailand’s strengths in medical services, tropical medicine, biodiversity and genomics. The country’s patient pool extends beyond its own population to people from neighboring countries and other regions who travel to Thailand for medical treatment, he said.Thailand’s accumulated data on tropical diseases and its Genomics Thailand initiative could provide another foundation for joint research, particularly for products intended for tropical markets.The Genomics Thailand initiative is a national 4.5 billion baht ($134 million) strategic medical program launched in 2019 to sequence 50,000 genomes and establish a local human genetic database of Thai nationals for precision medicine.Education would serve as the starting point for the wider partnership.Wongsawat proposed expanding double-degree programs between Thai and Korean universities, as well as joint graduate research programs in which students work on theses under institutions in both countries.Cooperation could then extend from universities into commercialization, an area where Wongsawat said Thailand could learn from Korea.He pointed to technology transfer offices and university holding companies in Korea that provide seed funding to startups, allowing researchers to verify their technologies before seeking larger private investments.“Korea has an innovation ecosystem inside the country,” he said, describing Korea’s efforts to link research, testing, clinical trials and commercialization as “quite impressive.”During the visit, Thai officials also held discussions with KT on AI literacy and so-called physical AI, including opportunities for Thailand’s manufacturing sector to participate in supply chains for robotics, semiconductors and electronic components.Wongsawat said he was also scheduled to visit SK Bioscience to follow up on discussions over potential cooperation and a pilot project.The goal, he said, is ultimately to connect institutions across both countries rather than pursue isolated projects.Once companies, universities and investors establish those ties, he said, they can use the strengths and markets of both countries to “accelerate the success” of new technologies.