THAILAND AND PORTLAND
EXPLORE POSSIBILITY OF PARTNERSHIP IN BIOSCIENCE
A high level delegation from Thailand with representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI), Thailand's Ministry of Industy and the Thai National Science & Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and the Thai Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) visited Portland, Oregon from July 15-17, 2004, to meet with Oregon companies, academics, venture capital and government officials to officially explore potential for an expanded partnership in bioscience.
The delegation was led by Deputy Secretary General of the Board of Investment Satit Sirirangkamanont. The visit was arranged by the Kingdom of Thailand’s sole Northwest based Consulate General in Portland and Runckel & Associates, a Portland based international consultant firm. Nick Stanley, Thailand’s Honorary Consul has moved aggressively to expand contacts between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Northwest region that his Consulate General covers and the seminar is just one of three seminars that the Consulate was hosting on various subjects in a one week period.
(above) Some of the participants at the seminar entitled
"Thailand - Oregon: Exploring the Possibility of a Bioscience Partnership"
Highlight of the delegations visit was a seminar titled “Thailand - Oregon: Exploring the Possibility of a Bioscience Partnership” hosted by Honorary Consul Nick Stanley at the Arlington Club in Portland on Friday, July 16, 2004. The seminar was attended by over 40 representatives of major Oregon academic institutions such as Oregon Health Science University (OHSU), Oregon Graduate Institute School of Science and Engineering, OHSU, Oregon State University, the University of Oregon and Portland State University. Major Health services providers like Providence Health System, City of Portland officials from the Portland Development Commission (PDC), State government officials from the Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Economic and Community Development (OECD), Venture Capital firms like Northwest Technology Ventures, Capybara Ventures, LLC, the Oregon Bioscience Association and Oregon based bio-tech companies like Oregon Life Sciences, Medi-Screw, Znomics and others all actively participated in the seminar.
(above) Honorary Consul Nick Stanley welcomes and introduces 13 members of Thailand's delegation
 After a welcome from Honorary
Consul Stanley
and an introduction of the 13 member Kingdom of Thailand delegation,
Deputy
Secretary General Satit Sirirangkamanont led off the presentation with
a detailed presentation of Thailand’s goal of utilizing its position as
“Kitchen to the World” and leading agricultural exporter in Southeast
Asia
to aggressively expand bioscience opportunities in Thailand.
Deputy
Secretary General Satit explained Thailand’s expanded incentives
offered
to companies in the bioscience and high tech field interested in
setting
up operations in Thailand and extended an offer from the BOI to
proactively
work with investors, companies and others to expand Thailand’s
bioscience
industry.(picture) Deputy Secretary General Satit Sirirangkamanont of BOI. |
 The Deputy Secretary General was
followed by
Dr. Sirirurg Songsivilai, Senior Expert at the National Center for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) in the National Science
and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and Director of the
Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Faculty of Medicine
Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University who discussed in detail Thailand’s
goals in bioscience, successes to date, opportunities located at the
Thailand Science Park (TSP) plus other key issues.
|
Dr. Sirirung was followed by Christopher W. Runckel, President of Runckel & Associates in Portland, who gave further background on Thailand and the Thai bioscience industry and then spoke specifically about reasons that a Thailand – Oregon partnership in bioscience made sense both economically, strategically, academically and in terms of business.
(picture) Chris Runckel, President of Runckel & Associates
Mr. Stanley then asked all of the representatives to introduce themselves and talk about some of their ideas on partnership. This discussion which lasted over an hour demonstrated the broad interest of all in further exploring the potential.
(above) Some of the participants share their ideas
Visits to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Hemcon
Later in the morning, the group visited Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) where Dr. Dan Dorsa, Vice President of Research and Development, Associate Director Robert Duehmig of the Office of Government Relations and Mark Kemball, Director of Community Relations and Susanne Banz, Director of Doernbecher Hospital met with the delegation to discuss OHSU’s increasing success in moving bioscience discoveries at OHSU into business ventures, new building plans, current and potential future programs such as a program in training nurses in Thailand plus many other issues. Delegation members were very much impressed by OHSU’s determined expansion of bioscience facilities; the architecture employed throughout the OHSU campus and the truly innovative patient care demonstrated at Doernbecher and other OHSU facilities.
(above) Dr. Dan Dorsa, Vice President of Research and Development briefs the delegation about OHSU,
then the group tours some of OHSU facilities.
After a luncheon at Portland-based Typhoon Restaurant where the delegation enjoyed the innovative Thai cuisine of Executive Chef and co-owner Bo Kline who was born in Thailand and is expanding her business to offer a line of Thai coconut milk and rice and listened to a highly stimulating presentation by Capybara Venture LLC Managing Partner Eric Rosenfeld on Oregon’s experience in developing Northwest Angel and Venture Capital firms, the delegation toured Tigard, Oregon based Oregon bio-tech firm Hemcon. Hemcon President and CEO John W. Morgan led the tour at which the delegation observed Hemcon’s clean room production facility and observed the key adherence and other factors that have made Hemcon’s combat battle dressing’s so much in demand by the U.S. military.
(above) The group's visit to Hemcon, Oregon based biotech company
Final event of the day was a dinner, again at the Arlington Club, where the delegation listened to a presentation by Dr. Albert Starr, Director of Bioscience Research and Development at the Providence Health System on potential for partnership in biomedical and other research, training and exchanges. Dr. Starr who is the co-inventor of the Starr-Wood heart valve and who has conducted numerous medical exchanges in Thailand, Vietnam, China and many other countries worldwide spoke movingly about his own experience in Thailand and the wide latitude for further expansion of a bioscience partnership between Thailand and Oregon.
Reported by: Christopher W. Runckel, a former senior US diplomat who served in many counties in Asia, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School. He served as Deputy General Counsel of President Gerald Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board. Mr. Runckel is the principal and founder of Runckel & Associates, a Portland, Oregon based consulting company that assists businesses expand business opportunities in Asia.
Until April of 1999, Mr. Runckel was Minister-Counselor of the US Embassy in Beijing, China. Mr. Runckel lived and worked in Thailand for over six years. He was the first permanently assigned U.S. diplomat to return to Vietnam after the Vietnam War. In 1997, he was awarded the U.S. Department of States highest award for service, the Distinguished Honor Award, for his contribution to improving U.S.-Vietnam relations. Mr. Runckel is one of only two non-Ambassadors to receive this award in the 200-year history of the U.S. diplomatic service.
More information on Biotechnology Industry in Thailand:
- BioThailand 2005: 2-5 November 2005
Thailand's National Biotechnology Policy Framework 2004-2011, by the National Biotechnology Policy Committee Secretariat
Presentation on Biotechnology in Thailand by Dr. Sirirurg Songsivilai of National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Thailand Science Park
Recent Major Development of Science and Technology in Thailand: Biotechnology – by Morakot Tanticharoen, Rudd Valyasevi, Jade Donavanik and Thippayawan Thanapaisal of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC)
Presentation on Investment Opportunities in Thailand by Mr. Satit Sirirangkamanont, Secretary General of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI)
Report on seminar Thailand-Oregon: Exploring the Possibility of a Bioscience Partnership in Portland, Oregon
Case Studies: Exploring the Possibility of a Bioscience Partnership Oregon, USA and Thailand by Christopher Runckel, President of Runckel & Associates.
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