The Japanese government has set up a regional project called “The Regional Industry Tie-up program (RIT).” The program aims to develop joint collaboration with an international partner, especially the domestic partner, in manufacturing medical devices. The project studied the market, trade, and investment potential of international partners for a year and it chose Thailand as one of the most favorable partners. (Krungthep Thurakij, 2019) with following rationales:

          1. Thailand will be ASEAN medical devices manufacturing hub that would distribute the devices to Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and so on, given that ASEAN is going to implement the same regulatory measure and recognition agreement in 2020. In addition, the ASEAN market for medical devices is projected to be 5.2 billion US dollars and accounted for 1 percent of the global market.