Event

RTRI and the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand Conclude Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation

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July 14, 2021
Railway Technical Research Institute

On July 1, RTRI and the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand (NSTDA) concluded Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation.

NSTDA is an independent institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand which is responsible for research and development of overall technologies. Since 2011, RTRI and NSTDA have been sharing technical information and expertise through sending researchers for railway technical seminars in Bangkok and accepting visitors to RTRI from NSTDA. Since 2016, RTRI has been cooperating with NSTDA in organizing a railway technical tradeshow in Thailand. Furthermore, the two organizations have already started to build a cooperative relationship in the field of railway technical standards.

Since fostering a closer technical cooperation with NSTDA contributes to overseas development of Japanese railway technologies and further development of railway systems in both countries, RTRI concluded the memorandum with NSTDA.

Considering the current Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Ikuo Watanabe, President of RTRI, and Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, President of NSTDA, signed and exchanged the memorandum by postal mail and shared video messages.

This memorandum is the 10th agreement that RTRI has concluded with overseas institutions regarding technical cooperation.

Major activities under this memorandum are as follows. Further details will be discussed and determined later.

(1) Knowledge, information, skills and experience will be shared, developed and improved.
(2) In the process of preparing joint activities, both parties send researchers to each other and have meetings.
(3) Collaborative research, meetings, lectures, symposiums and research projects will be organized on the topics in which both sides are interested and/or which are beneficial for both sides.
(4) Information will be shared regarding the progress and future plans of activities in specific fields.
(5) Activities to strengthen the cooperative relationships will be encouraged as much as possible.

[Message by Dr. Ikuo Watanabe, President of RTRI]

I am very much pleased to be able to conclude the Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation with NSTDA. Since 2011, RTRI and NSTDA have been cooperating and sharing technical information and expertise through organizing “professional training course for railway engineering trainers” in Bangkok, participating in the Thailand Railway Industry Symposium and Expo (RISE) hosted by NSTDA, and accepting visitors to RTRI from NSTDA. Since Thailand is the most important country in the Southeast Asia and NSTDA leads railway research and development in Thailand, it is very much significant for both RTRI and NSTDA to conclude this memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation. In addition to the cooperation and exchanges we have continued so far, we would like to further cooperate with NSTDA in international railway standards development that ISO and IEC are addressing in order to include Asian railway technologies in the international standards.

I am very sorry that I am not able to talk directly with Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul at an in-person ceremony. Now vaccination has been accelerating both in Thailand and Japan, and I am looking forward to further promoting our cooperation and exchanges after Covid-19. I hope that Thailand railways will further develop and Japan and Thailand, RTRI and NSTDA will be having even closer relationships.

[Message by Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, President of NSTDA]

On behalf of National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), Thailand, I would like to thank all of you, viewing this video message. Although we could not be able to celebrate our MOU signing ceremony in-person under this difficult circumstances, we would like to do our best, in this manner, to carry on the establishment of our formal relationship and collaborative activities with our partner, Railway Technical Research Institute.

Our close relationship has started in 2011. NSTDA received great support from RTRI when we first organized “professional training course for railway engineering trainers” in Thailand. Since 2016, NSTDA and RTRI have continuously co-hosted the Thai Rail Industry Symposium and Exhibition (RISE) in Thailand. The RISE event is an academia-research-industry platform for sharing knowledge, know-how and experiences among Thai and international experts, researchers, engineers, and technicians. This kind of event is so important for Thailand to realize our goal to be a logistics hub in ASEAN.

Today, RTRI and NSTDA have come to conclude a 3-year MOU on Technical Cooperation in the field of railway technology. We are very much hoping that, through the exchange of information and know-how and this research collaboration, the two institutes will join hands to work and contribute to the advancement of railway systems and further strengthen the bilateral partnership between Thailand and Japan.


* You can see all the photos and figures in the PDF file above.