Center Will Bring Jobs, Income to Thailand's North.

Dec. 2--The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has set aside one billion baht to develop the IT Knowledge Park in Chiang Mai, joining forces with Software Park Thailand, the private sector and academic institutions.

The aim is to generate jobs and income, both for the North and the country as a whole, to enhance the competitiveness of the software industry and to attract foreign investment to the country, according to Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, the board's assistant secretary-general.

He said the project would be submitted to the cabinet soon and could start early next year following approval. The one-billion-baht budget would cover the first five years of operation to 2008.

Chiang Mai was chosen because it was a production base and because of its well-established software business, good telecommunications infrastructure, high-quality universities and status as the gateway to the Greater Mekong sub-region countries, Mr Arkhom said.

In the long term, he said, the government aimed to develop Chiang Mai and Lamphun as information and communications technology centres, with training facilities and knowledge workers.

The IT Knowledge Park will initially develop human resources with the support of the Software Park, Chiang Mai University and Naresuan University. Both schools would serve as incubators for software development, Mr Arkhom said.

Chiang Mai University will focus on multimedia, animation and graphic design, while Naresuan University will produce software applications for SMEs. Each would produce at ...