London – The UK and Thailand have jointly launched an initiative to promote the development of smart cities across Thailand. It will see commercial enterprises from the two countries join forces as part of a virtual trade mission.

To date, the so-called “UK Thailand Tech Export Academy” initiative has matched over 200 businesses from the UK and Thailand. It launched in 2020 as part of a British government strategy to support UK businesses emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, according to an article in the trade publication Asean Briefing. Of the over 100 commercial enterprises that applied for the initial nine-month program, a total of 30 were selected to be involved in the virtual trade mission to Thailand. 

The two countries’ smart cities cooperation includes the UK-Thailand Smart City Handbook. Brian Davidson, UK Ambassador to Thailand, said in the article: “I hope the launch of the Smart City Handbook and the on-ground expertise as part of the Digital Trade Network will provide the foundations for future cooperation, sharing of experience and expertise between the UK and Thailand in areas of smart city development.”

There are also ongoing projects under the UK’s Global Future Cities program, which involves working with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to create an improved flood management system and a data center to support the collection and use of data for decision-making in Bangkok.

The initiatives deepen two-way trade between the UK and Thailand, which is likely to be further bolstered by the UK-Thailand Tech Export Academy’s trade mission. According to the article, the trade mission reflects strong support from the UK’s technology sector, which is pushing “commercial and investment partnerships to build the smart cities of the future”.