Thai Union Support Government's "Food Innopolis" Policy: Invests THB 200 m in Pilot Plant, Doubling Size of R&D Facility and Launches Joint Post-graduate Programme with 3 Leading Universities
Photo Caption:(from left to right) Mr. Thiraphong Chansiri, President & CEO of Thai Union,Mr.Kraisorn Chansiri Chairman of Thai Union, Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak presiding over the opening ceremony
31st March 2016, Bangkok – Thai Union Group Public Company Limited (TU) - the world's largest shelf-stable tuna processor and owner of a portfolio of leading global seafood brands - today launches the Pilot Plant with Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak presiding over the opening ceremony. The Pilot Plant with leading-edge technology is designed to innovate sustainable and value-added products and located within the Global Innovation Incubator (Gii), a joint R&D collaboration between Thai Union and the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Thailand since 2014. Also opened today is the extension, which effectively doubles the total work space of the Gii. Both the seafood Pilot Plant and the Gii extension are the results of Thai Union’s THB 200 million investment boost in a bid to help realize the Thai government’s vision for Thailand to become a hub for food research and innovation.
On this occasion, 3 joint post graduate programmes pertaining to the R&D at the Gii were signed with Mahidol University (MU), Kasetsart University (KU) and King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT).
The significant expansion and progress of the Gii are the direct result of the continued investment, an R&D collaboration that commenced in 2014 between Thai Union and Faculty of Science, Mahidol University of Thailand to incubate innovation for new, improved, nutritious seafood and value-added products for consumers. The Gii works on development of new, more environmentally-conscious processing technologies to produce innovations with an industry-leading focus on sustainability and responsibility which also is aimed to satisfy customer and consumer demands worldwide.
Mr.Thiraphong Chansiri, President & CEO of TU said, “The Gii is core business strategy – We believe that innovation will contribute to our business growth and help us achieve our USD 8 billion target by 2020. Innovation will further our competitiveness, differentiation and capacity in the world food industry. To support and drive forward progress at the Gii, we have invested approximately THB 200 million (USD 5.6 million) to expand the Gii work space to twice its initial size and created the Pilot Plant to further boost R&D.
On this occasion, we have signed joint post-graduate programme agreements with three leading Thai universities: Mahidol University, Kasetsart University and King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. These agreements will help to build up capacity for recipients of Thai Union R&D grants to pursue their Master’s or Doctoral degrees. These joint programmes promote a two-way exchange of knowledge and experiences among the new wave of grantees and the team of highly respected and experienced scientists at the Gii. Another benefit for the beneficiaries is that they will naturally be among the firsts to be considered for employment at Thai Union.”
Associate Professor Dr. Sittiwat Lertsiri, Dean of Biotechnology Department, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, said, “ Mahidol University is renowned for the advancement of research and development in science and technology, including collaboration for innovation with the private sector. R&D and innovation are essential to the quality of life, food security, job creation, economy, society and competitiveness of the country. To achieve that, there needs to be model to foster the exchange of information and knowledge amongst a pool of researchers domestic and overseas. To actualize this, we need recruitment mechanism and human resource development to find and allocate the most capable and suitable scientists.
The collaboration between the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University and a pool of Thai Union researchers worldwide began back December 2014 at the Global Innovation Incubator or Gii. The Faculty has recruited experienced lecturers and expert researchers in various disciplines for both basic and applied researches to work at the Gii. Moreover, personnel and students at the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University are also invited to work closely with the researchers, thus the Gii act as a learning center for nutrition innovation, a role that positively impact the society, health and add value to food products for consumers.”
“The Pilot Plant and expansion of the Gii supports the government policy to make Thailand a key scientific and technological hub for research and innovation to add value to the food industry. By sharing this vision, the internationally respected graduate programme at the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University has initiated the Development of Food Science and Technology Experts Programme to meet the demands of the private sector and society project through a joint postgraduate programme with the private sector. Thai Union, who sees the importance of human resource development at the national level, has stepped in to support this project and extended the collaboration to another two universities which is commendable. This is a capacity building project which will ensure the Thai food industry is competitive in the world arena”
Dr. Tunyawat Kasemsuwan, Director, Global Innovation of TU, added, “I am extremely delighted that the Thai Union Gii in collaboration with Mahidol University has progressed rapidly with extensive exchanges of research data with the global network of Thai Union researchers. To maximize the research potentials, we have invested more than THB 200 million in the creation of the Pilot Plant and doubling the work area of the Gii from 2,400 to 4,800 sqm. to allow ample work space for double the current 100-strong team of scientists and researchers.
The MOU signing with Mahidol University, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi and Kasetsart University to build capacity for Thai Union personnel and post graduate students on food research will be implemented with 10 research grants per year for a budget of THB 30-50 million which is fully funded by Thai Union. The Gii research facility, including the Pilot Plant, is among the most modern and well equipped in the region.”