Overview of USTDA’s program in Thailand
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is the U.S. Government’s international project preparation agency. USTDA funds project development activities (feasibility studies, technical assistance, and pilot projects) and partnership building programs (reverse trade missions, workshops, and training) that support infrastructure development and economic growth in partner countries.
Utilizing its program tools, USTDA works with Thai public and private sector entities to facilitate the implementation of priority infrastructure projects, promote transfer of technical knowledge and best practices, build stronger bilateral relationships, and encourage greater U.S. private sector engagement in Thailand. USTDA prioritizes program activities in the transportation, energy, ICT, healthcare, and agri-business sectors.
Thailand has historically comprised USTDA’s largest country portfolio in Southeast Asia. USTDA has provided extensive support for infrastructure development and capacity building for Thailand in areas that include: banking IT systems; disaster warning and management; airport design and security assessments; air navigation systems; power generation and distribution; waste and wastewater management; natural gas vehicle and liquefied natural gas operations; and rail sector modernization. USTDA funds these programs through a variety of mechanisms, including feasibility studies and technical assistance grants, reverse trade missions and study tour visits to the United States, and technical workshops in country. Since 1981, USTDA has supported over 135 major infrastructure projects with Thailand.
For example, following the devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, USTDA funded support for upgrading Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center (NWDC) disaster management capabilities. USTDA’s grant connected the Thai government with technology, systems integration, and training to establish a disaster management and emergency communications facility that was launched in 2005.
An ongoing USTDA technical assistance grant to Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) is helping to modernize PEA’s electrical grid and transform the delivery of power to more than 20 million customers across Thailand. USTDA’s assistance, peformed by the Electric Power Research Insititute (EPRI), is developing a robust strategy to guide PEA’s digitalization that will help to accelerate the integration of advanced technologies, increase energy efficiency, lower costs for consumers, and support greater uptake of renewable energy generation capacity. (Press release: https://ustda.gov/ustda-supports-grid-modernization-in-thailand).
USTDA’s support for the private sector includes a grant to the Thai renewable energy company Blue Solar Co. Ltd. to advance the development of a solar power plant with an integrated energy storage system in Suphan Buri Province, Thailand. Implementation of the Blue Solar project will support Thailand’s goals to expand the clean energy mix and represents one of the first private sector deployments of utility-scale battery storage in country. (Fact sheet: https://th.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-ustda-blue-solar-grant-signing-ceremony-on-august-14-2019). USTDA has also awarded a grant to SCG International Corporation Co., Ltd. (SCG), one of Thailand’s largest conglomerates, to develop a roadmap for the transition of their industrial and commercial fleet to electric vehicles. (Press release: https://ustda.gov/ustda-supports-electric-vehicle-transition-in-thailand).
In addition to its project preparation activities, USTDA has also supported a range of technical and commercial partnership building activities for Thailand, including Reverse Trade Mission (RTM) and study tour visits to the United States, procurement workforce training through the Global Procurement Initiative, and aviation sector training under the U.S.-Southeast Asia Aviation Cooperation Program.
USTDA is active throughout the Asia Pacific region and has increased its commitment to supporting infrastructure development and partnership building, particularly in Thailand and neighboring ASEAN markets. USTDA established its regional office in Bangkok in 2002 to support the Agency’s business development and program management for the Asia Pacific region. USTDA’s office in Bangkok is located in the U.S. Embassy’s commercial section, alongside sister agencies, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), that also maintain regional offices in Bangkok.
USTDA contact information
Asia Regional Office
U.S. Embassy in Thailand
GPF Witthayu Tower, Suite 302
93/1 Wireless Road
Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Verinda Fike
Regional Director, Indo-Pacific
E: vfike@ustda.gov
Sithisakdi Apichatthanapath
Deputy Regional Manager for Asia
E: sapichatthanapath@ustda.gov
T: +66 65 542 5656
