Mr. Peerapan Kothong, Secretary-General of the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), revealed after the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on academic cooperation regarding monitoring, evaluation, and data exchange of Royal Initiative Projects between the Office of the Royal Initiative Projects Coordination Committee (RDCP) and the Office of Agricultural Economics, that this collaboration stems from a shared recognition that monitoring and evaluating Royal Initiative Projects is a crucial mechanism for reflecting the achievements, efficiency, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and benefits accruing to the people, communities, the economy, society, and the environment. This will lead to the development and improvement of operations for maximum benefit and sustainability. The RDCP plays a vital role in coordinating and monitoring Royal Initiative Projects and possesses data and knowledge about project operations in various areas. Meanwhile, the OAE has expertise in agricultural economics, data analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and data compilation to support agricultural policy formulation. Therefore, integrating the strengths and knowledge of both organizations is a significant opportunity to upgrade the monitoring and evaluation process to a higher standard with evidence-based data. This will enable the collaboration to systematically and comprehensively reflect the outcomes.

Under this Memorandum of Understanding, both organizations share a common intention to promote and support operations in five areas: Firstly, the exchange and linkage of information, knowledge, and experience in monitoring and evaluation to create a high-quality, accurate, complete, and mutually usable database. Secondly, the development and application of academic approaches, tools, and methodologies in monitoring and evaluation to effectively assess project outcomes and clearly reflect their impact on the public and local areas. Thirdly, the capacity building of personnel in both organizations through knowledge exchange, seminars, training, and joint academic work to continuously cultivate skilled personnel in monitoring and evaluation.

Fourthly, the utilization of monitoring and evaluation results as data for decision-making, project improvement, and determining future project development directions, ensuring that operations meet the needs of the public and are appropriately aligned with the local context. And fifthly, promoting a continuous academic cooperation system that can develop into the creation of knowledge, innovation, and up-to-date monitoring and evaluation data systems, which will benefit the long-term management of royal-initiated projects.

“This collaboration between the Royal Development Projects Office (RDPO) and the Office of Agricultural Economics is another important step in integrating knowledge, data, personnel, and government resources to enhance the reliability of monitoring and evaluation, and to ensure the evaluation results can be used concretely. Importantly, the success of this collaboration is not only aimed at developing a monitoring and evaluation system or process, but its ultimate goal is to utilize the acquired data and knowledge to develop royal development projects to achieve tangible results, create benefits and well-being for the people, and contribute to the stable and sustainable development of the country,” Mr. Peerapan said. The initial phase of the MOU outlines a three-year cooperation framework, from 2027 to 2029, during which both agencies will jointly develop action plans, including: establishing joint working groups; defining guidelines and tools for monitoring and evaluation; selecting and conducting joint field visits to evaluate projects; preparing results reports and policy recommendations; exchanging information; extracting lessons learned and knowledge; and developing the capacity of personnel, to ensure the collaboration leads to concrete results.

Go To Lead