The seventh Executives’ Meeting of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUAEM) was hosted by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) from November 7th to November 10th 2023. The AUAEM is an annual meeting to congregate, review the programs and discuss the opportunities for future development.
The AUA Executive President and the HKUST President Prof. Nancy Y. IP opened the meeting and welcomed the AUA representatives to the HKUST campus, following the AUA Presidents Forum 2019 that was also held in HKUST. She reiterated HKUST’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with AUA and believed that “together, we can shape a future that is not only technological advanced, but also sustainable, inclusive, and harmonious.”
The opening ceremony was graced with the address from Prof. Ghaleb AlBrieki, the AUA President and Acting Vice Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). He lauded the role of AUA in strengthening member universities. “The success of AUA, as it has matured into a thriving collaboration, stands as a testament to the potential of international academic associations to achieve what individual institutions cannot in isolation,” he said. The President of AUA recommended that the alliance should search into the critical topic of inclusiveness and explore its numerous advantages.
Prof. Kaori Hayashi, Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo chaired the first two sessions, which reviewed the AUA programs hosted by member universities in the past few months. These included overseas study programs, Asia deep dive programs, academic conferences and several pilot programs.
Prof. K.V.K. Rao, Deputy Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay chaired the subsequent session on increasing inclusiveness of AUA programs, where several proposals were introduced and discussed. Prof. Ahmed Murad, Associate Provost for Research of UAEU shared with the members the outcomes and future opportunities from the UAEU-AUA joint research programs.
On the following day, Prof. Wang Hongwei, Vice President of Tsinghua University, chaired Session Four on discussions over proposals emerging from the working group meetings. Prof. Ilesanmi Adesida, Acting President of Nazarbayev University, reported on the seventh meeting of AUA Working Group I on Financial Sustainability, and Dr. Mezyad Alterkawi, Director of the International Cooperation Department at King Saud University (KSU), reported on the seventh meeting of AUA Working Group II on Member and Observer Admission.
In the fifth session chaired by Prof. Yang Wang, Vice-President of HKUST, the issue of executive presidency was discussed. University of Colombo Vice Chancellor Prof. Hettige Don Karunaratne chaired the wrap-up and closing session, in which KSU Vice President Prof. Abdullah AlSalman shared latest development of KSU, and Dr. Muna Bufaroosha of UAEU introduced the events UAEU will host during COP 28. In his closing remarks, Prof. Yang Wang referred to this meeting as “a very successful one” and encouraged AUA members to play a greater role in tackling global challenges.
The unveiling ceremony of Asian Universities Alliance Limited was held on the second day of AUAEM 2023. Dr. Choi Yuk-lin, Secretary for Education of Hong Kong SAR, Prof. Nancy IP, Prof. Ilesami Adesida, Prof. Hongwei Wang, Prof.Ahmed Murad and AUA Secretary Dr. Chuanjie Zhang unveiled the plaque of the AUA company. As AUA President Prof. Albreiki commented, “This entity symbolizes a significant leap forward in financial management. Its advantages extend beyond geographical boundaries, facilitating seamless collaboration and investment for our members, partners, and stakeholders, thereby boosting our overall productivity and effectiveness.”
On 8 Nov, the AUA delegates also joined a Leadership Forum hosted by HKUST, themed “Collaboration for a Sustainable Future”. The forum emphasized the importance of partnerships for data collection and effective evaluation for sustainability initiatives in creating a prosperous shared future.
