On November 15, 2024, Mr. Manop Dhamsirianunt, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Silicon Craft Technology PLC, served as a panelist at THE STANDARD ECONOMIC FORUM 2024: Brave New World on the topic “Semiconductor Strategy: Thailand’s Path to Becoming a Technology Leader”, held at Paragon Hall, Siam Paragon.
Joining him in the discussion were two other panelists: Associate Professor Dr. Archanun Kohpaiboon at the International Competitiveness and Development Research Center, Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, and Dr. Wiboon Rugsancharoenphol, executive committee of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The session was moderated by Mr. Nakarin Wanakijpaibul, CEO and Editor-in-chief of The Standard Company Limited.
This discussion highlighted a key reality of the modern world: technology is at the forefront of global development, with the semiconductor industry serving as a pivotal driver of innovation and competitiveness. For Thailand, this means seizing opportunities by transitioning from “midstream” to “upstream” production, an area rich with potential in the high-value semiconductor market.
Mr. Manop emphasized this point by stating, “Thailand can compete in this high-value industry. Silicon Craft is an example of a company that operates upstream. We design microchips, which require less capital investment, but generate a high economic impact. Therefore, we must strengthen the country’s value chain in the upstream sector as quickly as possible. Support from the government will be a key factor in making this happen.”
Mr. Manop continued, “I hope to see intensive investment in research and development. If we want to leap forward, we need collaboration between the government and the private sector, along with a clear roadmap to significantly improve the upstream industry, build an ecosystem, and harness the potential of people in the country. Additionally, we need a mechanism that attracts designers from around the world to jointly create solutions for various challenges. This could start with local contexts, such as smart devices or smart electronics, and then tackle specific problems like intelligent traffic management, smart farms, and industrial automation. Designers can then work on solutions to address these issues.”
Mr. Manop concluded, “The courage we need is the ability to think big and aspire to be a country with global semiconductor designers or players in the semiconductor design field.”
Silicon Craft would like to thank the Standard for organizing “The Standard Economic Forum 2024: Brave New World”, an important platform that provided an opportunity for the private sector to share their vision for driving Thailand toward becoming a global leader in the semiconductor industry. We sincerely hope that support from all sectors will propel Thailand to sustainable success in this future industry.
