Innovation and Technology Assistance Program (ITAP)

ITAP — Innovation and Technology Assistance Program

Supports Thai small and medium enterprises with matched expert consultations for technology upgrades.

The Innovation and Technology Assistance Program (ITAP) is a continuous SME support program administered by Thailand's National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), part of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. ITAP connects Thai small and medium enterprises with a network of over 1,300 technical specialists and provides cost-sharing subsidies for expert-led technology consulting engagements. Since its founding, the program has completed more than 4,000 projects across the manufacturing, agricultural, food, and technology sectors.

The mechanism is a 50% cost-share subsidy on eligible expert consulting fees, capped at THB 400,000 per project. An applicant company retains and pays the specialist; NSTDA reimburses the government's share after project completion and evaluation, making the payment structure arrears-based. There is no fixed application cycle or deadline — ITAP accepts submissions on a continuous open-intake basis through an English-language portal at itap.nstda.or.th/en. The application follows a seven-step process: submission, analysis, project design, approval, implementation, evaluation, and reimbursement.

Eligibility requires the applicant to be a Thai juristic person or community enterprise with at least 51% Thai shareholders. For manufacturing businesses, the annual revenue ceiling is THB 500 million or a maximum of 200 employees; for services and trading businesses, the thresholds are THB 300 million and 100 employees respectively. Government departments, universities, and foreign-majority-owned entities are not eligible. ITAP is particularly well-suited for established Thai SMEs with a specific production, quality, or technology challenge that can be scoped into a defined consulting engagement, rather than for organizations seeking research funding or early-stage development grants.