Bangkok: Dr. Ae supports the government’s move to transform rare earth minerals from crisis to opportunity, fostering high-value industries and creating jobs for Thais nationwide. Mr. Suchatvee Suwansawat, leader of the Thai Move Forward Party, stated that entering the value chain of the high-tech industry is a very good thing because it is the future of the world. However, where in the chain will one be? If ranked in order of value, from ‘mining,’ ‘extracting,’ ‘technology design,’ and ‘high-tech equipment production,’ China is the country that has achieved this goal, followed by the United States, which is still at a disadvantage in terms of mineral quantities.

According to Thai News Agency, instead of avoiding this issue, Thailand must seize the opportunity to become a technology design center and a high-tech equipment manufacturing center, beyond just extracting or mining. This will be more worthwhile and generate higher value. Therefore, Thailand must use this MOU to negotiate cooperation in three main areas.

Firstly, there is a need to negotiate the transfer of safety and environmental technology in future mineral exploration and production. Secondly, it is crucial to negotiate cooperation in human resource development, focusing on materials science education and research, increasing extraction capabilities and expanding into high-value industries such as EV vehicles and AI semiconductors. Lastly, negotiations with US high-tech companies to invest in building design centers and high-tech equipment manufacturing plants in Thailand are essential. For instance, Vietnam has acquired Nvidia’s AI chip design center, which will create many high-value jobs.

Thailand will use the opportunity of rare earth minerals to gain advantages and become a high-tech industrial nation, creating enormous value for the Thai economy.