PENANG, 11 May 2015 - ASEAN countries can expect better project management in the near future, thanks to a collaborative programme organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Innovation and Productivity in Public Administration (PiPPA USM) in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

This hope was expressed by the USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman during the closing ceremony of the Regional Training on Project Management programme which was attended by 24 participants from five ASEAN countries namely Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

"It is hoped that all participants who attended the intensive five-day training programme will be able to apply the ‘results-based’ project management approach which was integrated into the training," added the Vice-Chancellor, who also holds a PhD in Project Management.

Ai Ching Sia, a participant from Brunei Darussalam said that the training programme had enlightened participants on the various aspects and processes of project management, beginning from the project development stage all the way up to the process of project monitoring.

Wariya Pisuchpen from Thailand similarly commented that many of the participants had depended heavily on Balance Score Cards all this while, compared to the various other techniques in project management and monitoring.

“We have learned many other methods here through the training programme which we hope to be able to apply at home,” said Wariya.

The training was conducted by the ADB Regional Principal Specialist, Alfredo Perdiguero, the Deputy Director of the IMT-GT, and the Head of BIMP-EAGA, Susanna Chew.

Alfredo noted that the participants on the whole had benefited from the various knowledge and information sharing sessions.

“Each group, made up of participants from various countries, managed to produce concept papers tailored to their respective needs, as well as projects for the various countries using a variety of methodology,” noted Alfredo in his closing remarks on the Regional Training programme.

Also present during the closing ceremony were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Dato' Dr. Muhamad Jantan, Director of PiPPA Dr Musa Ali and the Deputy Director of PiPPA Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Rodzi Ismail. - Translation: Dr Nurul Farhana Low Abdullah/Text: Nor Rafizah Md Zain/Photos: Ahmad Zulman Mohd Zain