The eighth Executives' Meeting of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUAEM) was successfully held in a hybrid mode both online and offline by IITB, India from Nov 11th to Nov 14th 2024. The AUAEM is held annually with the aims of reviewing the programs, gathering thoughts and discussing the opportunities for future development.
At the engaging opening ceremony, the AUA Executive President and the Director of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Prof. Shireesh KEDARE warmly welcomed the AUA representatives to Mumbai, India. Prof. Abdullah Salman A. ALSALMAN, President of King Saud University, Prof. YANG Bin, Vice president of Tsinghua University, and Prof. Ayesha ALDHAHERI, on behalf of Prof. Ahmed Al Raeesi, Acting Vice Chancellor, United Arab Emirates University, delivered inspiring addresses that highlighting the significance of the AUA in promoting academic excellence and international cooperation. They expected AUA member universities to pool their wisdom and efforts for AUA sustainable development and to optimize the program structure via maximizing the utilization of resources for jointly promoting the stable development of the AUA.
The session on AUA programs reports, chaired by Prof. Sun-Young KIM, Deputy Vice President of International Affairs, Seoul National University, was a showcase of diverse AUA program achievements in 2024. By covering multiple topics from online education staff exchanges to the establishment of the AUA Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network, these intriguing programs represent a wide range of AUA academic conferences and overseas study programs.
On Nov 12th, Prof. Ilesanmi Adesida, Acting President of Nazarbayev University, chaired the ninth meeting of AUA Working Group I on Financial Sustainability, and Dr. Mezyad Alterkawi, Director of the International Cooperation Department at King Saud University, chaired the ninth meeting of AUA Working Group II on Member and Observer Admission. The following day, Prof. HAYASHI Kaori from the University of Tokyo led the report session of these two AUA working groups and moderated corresponding discussions.
In the closing session, concluding addresses were made by AUA member universities' leaders and representatives, including Prof. Ilesanmi ADESIDA, Provost of Nazarbayev University, Prof. HAYASHI Kaori, Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo, Prof. Palanee AMMARANOND, Vice President of Chulalongkorn University, Dr. Agustin KUSUMAYATI, Secretary to the University of Universitas Indonesia, Prof. Upul SONNADARA, Dean of the Faculty of Science of University of Colombo, Prof. KIM Shin Cheul, Associate Vice-President of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Prof. Sun-Young KIM, Deputy Vice President of International Affairs of Seoul National University, Prof. LUM Sau Kim, Associate Vice President of National University of Singapore, and Ms. Vigneshree KING, Director of Strategic Global Alliances Division of Universiti Malaya's International Relations Centre. They expressed their enthusiasm for future cooperation and envisioned increasing student mobility opportunities and research collaborations across disciplines, aiming to enhance youth leadership and address global challenges. In his closing speech, Prof. Shireesh KEDARE stated that the AUAEM will promote AUA to achieve greater accomplishments in aspects such as student mobility, research cooperation, and cultural exchanges. It is also expected that AUA can further facilitate the cooperation among its member institutions in fields such as climate change, online education, and artificial intelligence, promoting the enhancement of the quality and equity of higher education in Asia.
