On May 14th, representatives from 10 ASEAN countries met at DTU for the 4th Passage to ASEAN (P2A) Partner Meeting. Each ASEAN country has its own unique culture and economy, but they also have something in common. Their joint mission is to establish a regional network to help ASEAN universities and colleges to adapt to a new generation of globally-oriented students, who can then contribute themselves to the strengthening of the ASEAN Community. The meeting kicked-off a series of activities to enable the 10 countries to broaden their friendship, cooperation, communications and understanding of each other.
Representatives from 10 ASEAN countries attend the 4th Passage to ASEAN Partner Meeting at DTU
Opening the ceremony, Distinguished Teacher Le Cong Co, DTU President and Provost, said: ”Today, we are delighted to welcome universities and colleges belonging to the P2A network. Presently, there are 45 universities and colleges in ASEAN countries participating in the P2A network. As the world is becoming more global, P2A will encourage closer collaboration between ASEAN universities and colleges. We will work together to learn about our different cultures, by training and researching together to create more peaceful, stable and long-term community relationship in the region. I hope that this 4th P2A Partner meeting will bring many more new opportunities for the development of P2A, as well as the AEC and create a new network for peace and prosperity everywhere in the region and the East Sea.”
Mr. Jeroen Schedler, Executive Director-P2A Secretariat, delivers a speech at the Meeting
As one of the positive contributors to the founding of P2A, Ms. Le Nguyen Tue Hang, DTU Vice-Provost, gave a brief introduction about the Organization and its achievements over the years. The Association of Universities and Colleges of ASEAN (P2A) was officially established in 2012 by five universities: Rangsit University of Thailand, Duy Tan University of Vietnam, Norton University of Cambodia, National University of Laos, and Myanmar Computer Institute of Myanmar. Today, the network of P2A is expanding to 45 universities and colleges in ASEAN. Every six months, a P2A Partner Meeting has been summoned in alternate member nations. P2A has conducted a lot of activities to prepare students for knowledge and social skills. There are the virtual ASEAN Tour (for every student to discover the amazing, beautiful, exciting and unique ASEAN), the ASEAN Game (a fun online quiz that shows students the things they know and the things they don’t know about the ASEAN community), the ASEAN Journey (a big network of universities in every ASEAN country) and the ASEAN Certificate (for students who took the ASEAN Tour, played the ASEAN Game and joined the ASEAN journey to share their story with the others via camera and phone). Upload your video to the P2A YouTube Channel and qualify for the Ready for ASEAN Certificate.
Representatives pose for a photo at the Opening ceremony
Deeply understanding about the mission of P2A, Mr. Jeroen Schedler, Executive Director- P2A Secretariat, said: "Each ASEAN member country has its own features when it comes to economy, cultural values and politics. These differences definitely lead to different thinking, behaviors and actions. So the Association of Universities and Colleges of ASEAN was founded with the desire to connect all universities in Southeast Asia to link students in the region for knowledge and experience exchange to understand more about ASEAN. P2A’s mission is for us all to work together to prepare students for knowledge to contribute towards a more united, prosperous ASEAN Community. As an Executive Director of the P2A Secretariat, I would like to thank DTU for successfully organizing this meeting."
Mr. Phung Tan Viet, Vice Chairman of the Danang People’s Committee, said: ”Danang city very much appreciates the initiative of founding P2A and of organizing the 4th Partner Meeting at DTU. It is a strategic initiative that will be vital to the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Danang is a dynamic city, a gateway connecting with the entire Asia-Pacific region. In this important position, Danang has invested heavily in technical and service infrastructure, education and training. The city has taken good note of DTU’s achievements so far. These achievements have contributed significantly to the development of the city and to its international integration. DTU is a multi-disciplinary university. It is one of the top Vietnamese private universities with a strong influence on regional education. DTU is honored to be one of the five founding universities of P2A. The establishment of P2A opens opportunities for universities to provide our region with a high-quality workforce, and creates new ways of exchanging information, to study and research together, and then apply our scientific and technological achievements to the future development of the ASEAN community.”
On May 15th, the International seminar entitled: ”ASEAN after 2015: Opportunities and Challenges” is held to announce the most recent research results of the ASEAN community after 2015 and the contributions of educational and research institutions in the region to the development of ASEAN.
(Media Center)