By bringing together Southeast Asia’s best, Thailand is geared for great things in the digital space
It’s no secret that the startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia is growing at a rapid rate. The region is home to 10 unicorn startups and has been earmarked as one of the most attractive destinations for investors. Thailand is a particularly nascent market for entrepreneurship — having ranked 71st out of 137 countries globally, and 15th out of 28 countries in the Asia Pacific region in the Global Entrepreneurship Index 2018.
The government of Thailand has been pouring efforts into building up the country’s tech ecosystem in recent years. The National Innovation Agency, a government agency aimed at encouraging innovation, overhauled its financial support programme for startups to help move progress along quicker and allowing them to access THB44 billion in funding. The agency’s main goal is to build 3,000 innovation-based startups in the next decade, to nurture the startup ecosystem and generate growth.
It also works in partnership with True Digital Park (TDPK), the country’s first and Southeast Asia’s largest digital innovation hub. Based in Bangkok, the global startup destination is a playground of sorts for startups, providing space for work and daily living in an integrated community. Initiatives like these really emphasise Thailand’s dedication to a digital transformation.
Digital transformation in the land of smiles
When we talk about digital transformations, the first thing that comes to mind for most people is simply shifting daily manual processes and activities into a digital framework — but it is far more than that.
According to The Enterpriser’s Project, a digital transformation in the business context is about “fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value.” It also involves a “cultural change that requires organisations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and get comfortable with failure”.
This applies to ecosystems as well, and is the driving force for innovation, which is the reimagining of a process that has already been established. For example, social media gave the entire world a brand new way of communicating and sharing experiences, overhauling society in ways we couldn’t have imagined before. Innovating the way people connect with one another has sparked a digital transformation and resulted in vast generational changes.
While there are countless areas of business and life that are in the midst of being transformed, social media remains to be one of the most obvious examples of how innovation throbs at the core of digital transformation. It is so prevalent that it has become part of everyday life not just for people, but businesses as well.
Thailand’s TDPK is where such digital transformations in the region could plant its roots. With the sheer amount of talent and investment that the park brings together, it provides crucial knowledge creation that is supportive to digital innovations. By positioning itself as a hub where innovation thrives and sprawls, TDPK empowers the region’s startup ecosystem and boosts its potential exponentially.
Togetherness of possibilities — bridging the region together
In September 2019, TDPK held a tech conference, Togetherness of Possibilities, which aimed to inspire and share knowledge and experiences among startups, businesses, and government agencies. The conference featured new technologies and innovation labs exhibited by partners of the space, from public and private sectors, as well as top executives and entrepreneurs whose work is designed at driving more sustainable digital economic development in Thailand and the SEA region.
Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO of the Charoen Pokphand Group and Chairman of the Board of True Corporation, said: “Innovation and digital technology is the driving force of digital transformation especially for enterprises and industries that need to change their business model and apply digital technology to create added value for products and services.
“Meanwhile digital technology also plays an important role in digitising — making communities, societies, healthcare, and the environment better. It also reduces the income divide and helps to sustainably create prosperity for Thailand. True Digital Park has been developed to increase Thailand’s competence through innovation, creativity, and technology. All these factors combine to create sustainable economic growth in the long run.”
TDPK’s Togetherness of Possibilities 2019 conference provided an excellent opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to meet with experts and highly-rated speakers from leading companies and startups from Thailand, as well as other countries.
Some of the notable attendees were Dr. Chinawut Chinaprayoon, Executive Vice President of the Digital Economy Promotion Agency; Pariwat Wongsamran, Director of Startup Thailand, the National Innovation Agency; James Tan, Deputy Chairman of Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE Singapore); Phi Van Nguyen, Chairman of Saigon Innovation Hub; S. Ryan Meyer, Managing Director of APAC, General Assembly; Nicholas Nash, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Asia Partners; and Khailee Ng, Managing Partner of 500 Startups.
The conference was held over the course of a day and the agenda was jam-packed with talks, forums, and networking opportunities for attendees to discuss and brainstorm. Keynote speaker Dr. Lu Gang, founder and CEO of Technode, talked about future-proofing China’s future with global innovation and tech, while panel discussions hashed out issues and thoughts on corporate transformations, the evolution of players in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem, and unicorn opportunities in the region.
Integration and support from the region
The biggest takeaway from the conference was the need for Southeast Asian tech ecosystems to integrate and support one another. Pariwat Wongsamran said during one of the panels: “Actually, all of us (Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand) have the programmes to help ASEAN startups already. We can [join them] in the same programme.”
He added, “We can share data together and [help them] to go for investments. Venture capitals don’t just think about investing in one country, but instead investing in Southeast Asia as a whole. That’s why we should [work] together and use existing programmes like landing and launching pads, and exchange programmes, to help startups.”
Congregations of tech players like TDPK’s Togetherness of Possibilities are essential in building networks and strengthening local startups in the region. It gives every stakeholder in the ecosystem the opportunity to look beyond their own horizons and ideas, and it ultimately creates a wider bird’s eye view on the region as a whole, which helps keep everyone on track. It prevents repetitive ideas or homogenous business communities, while at the same time encouraging healthy competition among startups and businesses.
The importance of synchronicity in Southeast Asia
Such gatherings also attract foreign startups and investors, who might be looking for a way into the vast Southeast Asian market or to expand their portfolios with innovative new businesses. Thailand is privileged to be at the heart of Southeast Asia, and has the potential to be used as a base for foreign startups who want to tap into the region and spread their wings.
Investors are taking an active interest in the region as well, with acquisitions of Southeast Asian tech startups more than doubling in the first half of 2019, according to the Financial Times. The takeovers amounted to US$4.9 billion during that period and were led by unicorns like Indonesia’s Go-Jek.
Also read: One roof, all possibilities at the heart of Bangkok
A report by Golden Gate Ventures in Singapore and the Insead business school predicts that this trend will increase, and estimates a minimum of 700 startup exits between 2023 and 2025. Michael Lints, a partner at Golden Gate Ventures, told FT that the research showed a high number of global investors who are seeking to deploy capital in the region, with the US showing the highest level of curiosity, followed by Japan, Korea, and some parts of Europe.
TDPK reflects Thailand’s commitment to sustainable development in both the country and the region. It recognises the difficulties local startups face when it comes to accessing investors or the wider market, and how they lack deep technology and are actively creating opportunities and putting in measures that will help these startups gain a more global perspective. Despite being slow to start with, the Thai ecosystem is gaining speed and attracting attention from all around the world.
During Togetherness of Possibilities, TDPK announced the completion of its startup ecosystem, reinforcing how prepared it is to drive the regional digital economy forward. The potential for Thailand to become a major innovation and entrepreneurial hub in Asia feels well within reach. TDPK’s focus on building a complete startup ecosystem that encourages connectivity and knowledge-sharing has driven its mission to help startups and tech entrepreneurs reach their full potential forward.
In order for this innovation hub to thrive, TDPK and other Thai agencies, both public and private, must seek out more collaborations and capital from other Southeast Asian hubs. This is something they are already doing in earnest and has seen success in the form of partnerships and interest in the country’s entrepreneurial activities. If they continue in this vein, there’s no stopping Thailand from achieving its goals.
The post True Digital Park’s “Togetherness of Possibilities” drives digital transformation in Thailand appeared first on e27.