BANGKOK, 1 December 2017 - Representatives of governments and leading universities in ASEAN and Japan gathered in Bangkok today to sign the Cooperative Framework of the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net) for Phase 4.

Signing the cooperative framework on behalf of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail and with this, it will further boost and enhance the highly regarded USM Engineering Programme to the next level and deliver greater value.

These are new collaborations among the universities in this region and also the first of its kind between the academic network and the industries in ASEAN.

With high expectation from the concerned parties and governments, the AUN/SEED-Net can contribute to the establishment of the ASEAN Community especially in fostering solidarity among academics and professionals and producing high-quality manpower with the spirit of ASEAN.

The ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net) has been established to promote human resource development in engineering for sustainable socio-economic development of the ASEAN region.

Since its establishment in 2001, derived from the decision of the ASEAN – Japan Summit, the cooperation within AUN/SEED-Net has been expanding both in terms of scale and scope. Initially the Network comprised of 19 leading engineering institutions in ASEAN and 11 supporting universities in Japan.

Today the network has 26 member institutions in ASEAN with assistance from 14 Japanese supporting universities.

Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah