Biz Buzz
Play
Thai high-flyers urged to invest in J-League The popularity of the Thai Premier League and the high development of soccer in the Kingdom has led to the chairman and chief executive of the Japan External Trade Organisation calling for Thai investment in
Speaking at the recent “Invest Japan Symposium” in Bangkok, Hiroyuki Ishige invited Thai billionaires to take over soccer clubs in the J-League, saying the league had high development potential and could produce many high-competency players for international competitions.
“There are many billionaires in Thailand who own football clubs in England. Thai investors should not overlook the J-League, as [it] is also very popular and could produce many good players to support the growth of the football industry,” the Jetro chief said.
GOVT’S R&D BUDGET ‘POOR’
The government should feel ashamed for investing a small amount of the Kingdom’s budget on research and development each year, with a private company investing more in the sector than the government because it foresaw it as a key economic growth driver, says that company’s chief.
Kan Trakulhoon, president and CEO of Siam Cement Group, said his firm had invested more on R&D each year than the government.
“This year, SCG plans to spend about Bt4.89 billion, or US$150 million, on R&D – two times what the National Science and Development Agency has been allocated for R&D,” he said.
He said R&D and innovation were key to business growth and increase high-value-added contributions for the company, so the firm spent a huge amount of money on R&D.
But what about our country? Does the government realise the importance of R&D?
Contributed by Petchanet Pratruangkrai
