Ubon Sunflower Company Limited (UBS), a subsidiary of Ubon Bio Ethanol Public Company Limited or UBE, a Thailand’s leading manufacturer and distributor of processed cassava products, announced another strategic plan to drive its business forward with Open Innovation by collaborating with all partners in the bio-based products business, both in terms of joint investment or research and development, including knowledge sharing which leads to the development of new ideas and is ready to upgrade health food products from high-value organic cassava starch. In line with the business concept of "UBEYOND"*, the Company has held its first event in the Open Innovation Talk by CEO with the Thai-Japanese Investment Research Institute: TJRI, and is ready to collaborate with Japanese partners to become a full-fledged food tech Company.

Ms. Sureeyot Khowsurat, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of UBE, revealed that "UBE and its subsidiaries are a producer and distributor of products using cassava as the main raw material, especially organic cassava, the company is also considered as one of the world's largest producers of organic cassava starch and Thailand's leading manufacturer and distributor of processed cassava products. And as there is a trend of increasing demand for healthy food consumption around the world this year, we are committed to promoting Thailand's organic cassava industry and expanding it to become the food of the future. The open innovation strategy will be a mechanism to increase the opportunities for the company with the exchange of knowledge, experience and new ideas from business partners, together with a strong business direction of research and development of new advanced technologies and innovations will be a driving force to create high value and variety of organic cassava products according to customer needs, and help accelerate to archive the goal of becoming a food tech company with advanced innovations.”

UBE and its subsidiaries welcome any cooperation from external business partners, especially in the development of bio-based products in terms of joint investment, knowledge sharing in research and development using advanced technology and innovation for mutual benefit in the further development of products to healthy food ingredients developed from innovative organic cassava flour, organic food additives with high nutritional value or functional food/supplement ingredients, biodegradable packaging using cassava as the main raw material, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), etc. Such open cooperation also meets the needs of the company's business practices based on sustainability, which focuses on creating shared value throughout the product life cycle, especially promoting the use of organic cassava in the country, which will help promote Thai farmers and create a circular economy, and importantly, it will also be a shortcut that will help the company achieve the goal of creating great growth in every dimension according to the business operation concept.

Remarks:
*UBEYOND comes from the combination of the words UBE + Beyond. It is the concept and strategy in the business operations of UBE and its subsidiaries, committed to creating sustainable and beyond growth in every dimension.