NPUST Vice-President for Education, Shang-Min Ma, and a number of other university representatives met with a delegation from the Debsirin Schools Chinese Studies Center Fund in Thailand to discuss various areas of academic cooperation. The meeting was held on June 29 (2023) at the First Meeting Room in the NPUST Administration Building. In addition to the vice-president, NPUST was represented by Vice-Dean Yuh Tzean of the Office of International Affairs, Dean Jue-Liang Hsu of the College of Agriculture, Director Horng-Liang Lay of the Department of Plant Industry, and Associate Professor Yu-Fei Chung of the Language Center. Together, they engaged with the 20 delegates from Thailand, who were headed up by the Chinese Studies Center Fund chairman, Dr. Kij Soonthorn. The focus of the meeting was centered on the possibility of establishing an Overseas Community Affairs Council two-year associate degree program on “Farm Production and Precision Tropical Agriculture” and holding a Chinese language camp. Through cooperation, hopes are to cultivate more agriculture technology talent in Thailand while also promoting Chinese education and culture, and improving Chinese language ability among Thai youths.
Vice-President Shang-Min Ma said “in the future we hope to see more students from Thailand come to Taiwan to participate in two-year associate degree programs on ‘Farm Production and Precision Tropical Agriculture’. Also, by organizing a Thailand Agricultural Chinese Learning Camp, Thai students can come and get acquainted with the environment at NPUST, and be opened up to the opportunity of studying at our school.”
Dr. Kij Soonthorn said he “hopes that through cooperation with NPUST, more Chinese youths living Thailand can go to Taiwan to study agricultural production, quality management, and R&D related technologies—and be trained as professionals. Then, with professional skills they acquire, they will be able to promote the development of Thailand’s local agriculture”.
During the time together, Dean Jue-Liang Hsu provided a general introduction of the College of Agriculture to the visitors, and Director Horng-Liang Lay of the Department of Plant Industry gave a briefing on the two-year associate degree in Agricultural Production and Precision Tropical Agriculture. After the briefing, the two sides had a time of discussion before visiting the Smart Agriculture Center, where lecturer and researcher Jui-Ching Ko provided a guided tour.
