Progress Meeting

On 21 July 2021, a progress meeting was held to review the first half of 2021 and to plan activities for the second half between Thai and Japanese researchers. In the opening remarks, the project director, Prof. Thanaruk Theeramunkong (Thamassat University) noted that the progress meeting is a general meeting for all working groups to seek productive collaboration and exchange information. Though COVID-19 restrictions have affected the progress of the project, he encouraged that we should all do our best to move forward through collaborative work. Then, the Principal Investigator of the project, Prof. Yoshitsugu Hayashi　(Chubu University) provided a reminder of the project’s objectives: one is to develop a methodology for evaluating policy packages to realize “Smart Transport Strategies” that balance quality of life and a low-carbon society, and the other is to propose the “Sukhumvit Model,” a policy package to implement smart transport strategies for the Sukhumvit area. In response, all agreed to set up a taskforce to develop the Sukhumvit Model and a future scenario for Bangkok Metropolitan Area, and the taskforce members will draft the Model and scenario by the end of 2021. Then, representatives from each group reported their activity progress and plan. To close the meeting, Ms. Ayumi Kiko, JICA headquarters, delivered her remarks to all project members. She was glad to able to follow up on the project’s status, since the presenters showed the progress of activities through visually comprehensible presentations. Understanding that the Project will pursue policy makers, she suggested that it will be important at the same time to promote the project’s vision to citizens to enable them to understand it.