PanamaTimes

Saturday, Oct 24, 2026

Social Innovation in Driving Thailand 4.0

Technology and digital transformation have always been instrumental in bringing change, resolving social issues and creating a better world. Driving this wave of transformation in Thailand is Hitachi with its Social Innovation Business.
We speak to Somsak Garnjanakarn, General Manager of Hitachi Asia (Thailand) Co., Ltd. about Hitachi’s presence in the nation and how it’s contributing towards the government’s Thailand 4.0 long-term vision of a better quality of life and sustainable future for the society.

Established in 1992, Hitachi Asia (Thailand) provides a diverse range of products and services to the public and private sector, such as electrical power plants, railway machinery, industrial machine, and advanced IT & IoT solutions.

Owing to Hitachi’s advanced technologies and Social Innovation solutions, the company was invited by the government to play a key role in the Thailand 4.0 initiative, to transform the nation and take it to the next step.

Garnjanakarn throws light on the 3 clear goals1 of Thailand 4.0:

Increase economic growth to over 5% within the next 5 years
Increase investments in Research and Development to over 4%
Raise average income to $15,000 by 2032

He also speaks about the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project which constitutes of the Rayong, Chonburi, and Chachoengsao provinces.

The government plans to turn these provinces into a “hub for technological manufacturing and services” by building new industries which is expected to give rise to 100,000 new jobs2 by 2020.

Hitachi has established the Lumada Center Southeast Asia in Chonburi province wherein they bring the IT and IoT solutions to support their public and private sector clients through collaborating with them. The company believes that the adoption of IoT will hugely benefit the manufacturing sector by improving efficiency and cutting costs by 30%.
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