NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai, Vice-President Chung-Ruey Yen, Secretary Director Kuei-Jyum Yeh, and Dept. of Wood Science & Design Asst. Prof. Way Long recently made a trip to India and Myanmar to promote academic exchange and create new bridges for cooperation in the region.
On the evening of October 6th delegates from NPUST took part in a banquet hosted by the Taiwan Representatives Office in India (TECC). At the affair, in an effort to promote Taiwan’s fabulous cuisine and encourage tourism, a “Taiwan Cuisine” section was set up with NPUST’s Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management Professor and former chef of the Kaohsiung Grand Hi Lai Hotel Banquet Hall, Wen-Tung Chen, overseeing the food preparations together with two of his students,Zeng Guan-Ru and Li Jun-De. The dishes presented by the culinary team were very well received and highly acclaimed by those in attendance. NPUST’s President Tai offered a special ‘thanks’ to the TECC Science and Technology Director, Henry Chen, who is also an NPUST faculty member, for making the arrangements and giving NPUST an opportunity to exhibit its some of its special qualities.
While in Delhi, the NPUST officials had an important mission to carry out and had little room to tarry as they made their way from University of Delhi, to the Indian Institute of Technology and then on to Amity University – three outstanding universities in the immediate area. At the universities, the visitors made presentations on NPUST’s smart agriculture talent training, fruit tree cultivation, and innovative developments in bamboo applications. The University of Delhi, a renowned comprehensive university with around 170,000 students on its roster, is the highest level and most influential university in India, and through the trip plans have been sured-up for their faculties in fields related to biology to begin preliminary cooperation activities with NPUST. At the Indian Institute of Technology Dehli, the Centre for Rural Development and Technology has many research targets that are very much in-line with ones NPUST has in its focus; thus, in the future, the two will be planning out academic pursuits in the field of agriculture science and technology. At Amity University, which has branches spread across the globe, President Tai offered a presentation that was warmly received, and hopes are that in the future the two universities will be able to engage in more substantial cooperative initiatives.
Once India’s leg of the trip was completed, the delegates continued on to Myanmar to conduct some meetings that were arranged by Taiwan’s Known-You Seed Co., Ltd. At the capital of Naypyidaw, the group paid a visit to Yezin Agricultural University and University of Veterinary Science, Yezin. Since diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Myanmar are not considerably warm, the fact that the NPUST officials were welcomed by both universities carries substantial significance — opening up opportunity for academic cooperation and creating potential for industry-academic cooperation.
While in Myanmar, the delegates also paid visits to Known-You Seed Co., Ltd. and other Taiwan companies operating in the area. In the future, hopes are to see a breakthrough on the issues related to visas, so that students will be able to take part in academic exchanges and internships, and so that Taiwan and Myanmar will be able to have more frequent exchanges in higher-education.
Both in India and in Myanmar, the visitations were considerably successful and are expected to make the way for future sister-university agreements and new opportunities for industry-academic cooperation.
