On 2 August 2016, China-ASEAN EngTech University Presidents Forum was held during the 9th China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW). The Forum under the theme “the opportunity and challenge for China-ASEAN higher education under the Belt and Road Initiative” was initiated by “The ASEAN-China Network for Cooperation and Exchanges among Engineering and Technology Universities” (ACNET-EngTech) co-sponsored by ASEAN-China Centre(ACC), Northwestern Polytechnical University and Tianjin University and hosted by Guizhou Institute of Technology. Nearly 100 university presidents and representatives from 33 colleges and universities of China and ASEAN attended the Forum. H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, ACC Secretary-General, Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond, Director of SEAMEO RIHED, Mr. Qu Zhenyuan, President of China Association of Higher Education, and Mr. Zeng Yu, Party Secretary of Guizhou Institute of Technology attended and delivered their remarks at the opening ceremony of the Forum.
Secretary-General Yang Xiuping expressed the great significance and function of the ACNET-EngTech. She congratulated on the fruitful results of functional cooperation between ASEAN and China in all sectors during the past 25 years since the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. She highlighted that ASEAN countries are in an important period of industrialization and urbanization development, and that China is facing economic transformation and upgrading, which required more technical human resources and expertise in promoting national development and strengthening ASEAN-China functional cooperation. She expressed her hope for all members to work together and forge further development of the Network and closer educational collaboration and people-to-people exchange between ASEAN and China.
Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond briefed on the development of higher education in Southeast Asian area as well as the work of SEAMEO RIHED, emphasizing its partnership with ACC in a number of activities to facilitate the collaboration between universities of ASEAN countries and some provinces in China such as, Yunnan and Guangxi. She hoped that platforms such like CAECW and ACNET-EngTech could play an even more effective role in promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and China.
Mr. Qu Zhenyuan opined that, both China and ASEAN has its own features and advantages in higher education system, talent cultivation model and curriculum provision. Discussions on the reform and development of engineering education during the forum would undoubtedly contribute to the further development of ASEAN-China education cooperation and people-to-people connectivity. He encouraged that relevant parties should seize the opportunities to deepen the inter-collegiate collaboration and enlarge the number of student exchange, so as to make fresh progress in scientific and technological innovation, talent cultivation and the reform of education system and to improve the capacities of universities and colleges to better serve the development of the country and the region.
With enthusiasm, the participants exchanged information and shared their experiences on the 3 topics of the Forum, i.e. the Belt and Road Initiative, Strategy of Opening Higher Education to the Outside World and ASEAN-China Higher Education and Connectivity: Resource Allocation and Sharing of ACNET-EngTech, and the Training Strategy of Internationalized Application-Oriented Professionals.
The ASEAN-China Network for Cooperation and Exchanges among Engineering and Technology Universities (ACNET-EngTech) was officially established in March 2015, and has 17 member universities to date.