Amata University to offer master’s in IMS

Degree aims to aid smart city advance

The cabinet yesterday granted Amata University, located at Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate in Chon Buri province, the right to offer a Master’s of Science (MS) in Engineering (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems) from National Taiwan University (NTU) in Thailand.

Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a government spokesman, said the degree will focus largely on future automation and autonomous vehicles.

The move aims to accommodate smart city development in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and develop human resources for science and technology to cope with the targeted S-curve industries being promoted by the government.

The two-year course will be based on the identical standards of NTU available both in English and Chinese Mandarin.

Mr Sansern said the government hopes the new course from one of the world’s top 72 universities in the QS World University Rankings will upgrade the quality of human resources here for science and technology.

“The government has a clear-cut policy to attract world-class universities to open their faculties in Thailand to supply workers for the 10 targeted industries,” he said.

The cabinet last October approved the criteria and conditions for foreign educational institutes that plan to establish branches in the EEC.

Foreign educational institutes should not be ranked below 100 in the ratings of Quacquarelli Symonds, Times Higher Education or other international agencies approved by Thailand’s Education Ministry.

The faculties in the EEC should focus primarily on t he government’s targeted industries.

The EEC was designed by the government to be a flagship project for driving growth.

The EEC spans 30,000 rai in the provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao to accommodate investment in 10 targeted industries: next-generation cars; smart electronics; affluent medical and wellness tourism; agriculture and biotechnology; food; robotics for industry; logistics and aviation; biofuels and biochemicals; digital; and medical services.

One incentive offers a 50% cut in corporate income tax, in addition to previous tax incentives offered to investors in the EEC, such as a personal income tax rate of 17% for high-ranking executives, experts and researchers who work for firms investing in the targeted industries that are headquartered in the EEC.