An written appeal was submitted yesterday to the House budget scrutiny committee, by the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office (NSTIPC) and the Thailand Centre of Excellence for Life Service  (TCELS), objecting to a large cut in their research and development funding.

The appeal came one day after a sub-committee of the House budget scrutiny committee slashed the fund, officially known as the Science, Research and Innovation Promotion Fund, by about 63.7% or from 12 billion to only 4.534 billion baht.

NSTIPC director, Professor Dr. Sutthipant Chitpimonmat, and TCELS director Dr. Naret Damrongchai, personally handed the letter to Mr. Santi Keeranant, secretary to the House budget scrutiny committee.

The two state agencies wrote that the hefty cutback will seriously affect national development and the confidence of foreign investors in the industrial sector, which is increasingly relying on high technology.

They also noted that the cutback will affect the grass roots economy and small and medium-sized enterprises, claiming that more than 250 universities and related agencies will be hard hit due to lack of funds for research and development.