PENANG, October 2014 - USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman received a courtesy call from delegation of Hannam University (HNU), Daejeon, South Korea at his office here recently.

The three-member HNU delegation was led by its President, Dr.Hyungtae Kim; the Dean of Global Relations, Dr. Seungho Lee; and the Director of Centre for International Relations, Wonbae Kim.

The aim of the visit was to introduce HNU to USM and to discuss potential cooperation that can be carried out between USM and HNU especially in terms of student exchange, faculty exchange and research collaboration.

In the meeting, the USM Vice-Chancellor said, he hoped that the bilateral cooperation will further strengthen the relationship between the two universities, thus enabling a wide range of collaborative activities to be implemented in the future.

"USM needs to look at how to leverage on the short-term student exchange programme or Korean Studies Summer Programme (KSSP) offered at HNU, especially in the field of business studies, management and languages.

"This student exchange programme is also seen as a way for USM to strengthen its position globally in line with its internationalisation policy as a Research University and an APEX university," said the Vice-Chancellor.

Meanwhile, the HNU President viewed this visit to USM as a good start towards a closer cooperation between HNU and USM.

"I am honoured to have the opportunity to set foot in USM, one of the premier universities in Malaysia and to witness personally the achievements accomplished in this university," said the HNU President.

He also invited USM delegation to make a visit to Hannam University campus in near future.

Hannam University was established in 1956, offering academic programmes for both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and has established international ties with 180 universities in 40 countries.

Earlier, the HNU delegation had the opportunity to meet up with two of its students who are currently studying language and music respectively in USM under the student exchange programme, besides holding discussion with the Director of USM International Office, Associate Professor Dr. Anees Janee Ali on future student exchange programmes and other potential collaborations.

They were also treated to a guided tour of the campus.

Also present to welcome the HNU visitors were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) Professor Dato' Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal and the Director of Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS) Professor Dr. Kamarulazizi Ibrahim. - Translation & Text: Tan Ewe Hoe/Photo: Yong Check Yoon