During the visit of the French Minister of Higher Education and Research to Thailand, a bilateral discussion on higher education and research collaboration took place on 20 October 2023 between the Thai and French delegations. Leading the respective delegations were Ms. Supamas Isarabhakdi, Thailand’s Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and Prof. Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research to the French Government.  The meeting concluded with the signing of a Declaration of Intent between France and Thailand on cooperation for higher education, science, research and innovation.

On 21 October 2023, NSTDA hosted Prof. Dr. Sylvie Retailleau, who was accompanied by French Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Mr. Jean-Claude Poimboeuf and Dr. Xavier Grosmaitre, Science and Higher Education Attaché at the Embassy of France in Thailand, at Thailand Science Park for a meeting and facility tour. NSTDA President Prof. Dr. Sukit Limpijumnong, led the team of NSTDA executives, in welcoming the French delegation.

During the visit, NSTDA Executive Vice President Dr. Uracha Raktanonchai presented an overview of NSTDA, including its research strategies in key areas aligned with the national strategy, such as clean technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) model. The forum explored potential collaborations in areas such as researcher exchanges and infrastructure development at the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECi), which includes the Plant Factory and the 3-GeV Synchrotron Facility.

A highlight of the visit program was a tour of the National Biobank of Thailand (NBT) conducted by NBT Director Dr. Sissades Tongsima. The tour also included a joint lab between NSTDA and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). This joint lab is presently engaged in two collaborative projects, namely the SIMPLE Project that aims to develop educational solutions based on the integration of immersive virtual reality (VR) environments with games and scientific simulations, and the GAMA Platform, a modelling and simulation platform for building spatially explicit multi-agent simulations to support studies related to climate change, natural disasters and urban planning.