Thailand approves US$400 million budget for innovation

The Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI), formerly known as the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), is likely to be allocated 12.5 billion baht (over US$400 million) after the House of Representatives changed its decision to cut down the annual budget to fund the agency’s activities.

Thai Minister of Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Suvit Maesincee (Source: https://www.startupthailand.org/)
Thai Minister of Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Suvit Maesincee (Source: https://www.startupthailand.org/)
According to the Thai government's 2020 budget bill, the funding for the above-mentioned field is 12.5 billion baht. However, the budget was decided to be cut down by 63.7 percent or 8 billion baht because the TSRI, which manages the fund, failed to explain to the House why such a large sum was needed.
Minister of Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Suvit Maesincee said that the ministry successful persuaded the House of Representatives to change its decision during a meeting to review the 2020 fiscal budget on December 4.
Accordingly, the budget review committee of the House of Representatives agreed not to cut the budget for science research and innovation activities.

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