National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) and Thailand’s Maejo University first entered into a sister-school relationship in 2006. Since that time, the two parties have maintained active and frequent exchanges. On March 13th, 2023, Maejo’s president, Dr. Weerapon Thongma, and vice-president, Dr. Kriangsak Sri-ngernyuang, led a delegation of 20 to the NPUST campus to discuss further cooperation and exchange.
During the visit, NPUST’s president, Dr. Chin-Lung Chang, offered some remarks, stating “NPUST and Maejo have enjoyed many years of friendship. With many common visions and objectives, we hope that our bilateral exchange and discussions will allow us to create more opportunity for future cooperation. And together, we will continue to promote rich development and academic exchange.”
Maejo’s president, Dr. Weerapon Thongma, said “we admire Taiwan and NPUST for their technical development in agriculture. They have developed their agriculture industry very well, even in the face of such threats as typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters. The educational achievements of NPUST have benefited Thailand and Meizhou University, and by working together we have been able to cultivate many professionals. At the present time, we have brought this special administrative team from Meizhou University to visit NPUST in order to learn from them.”
The visit was an opportunity for exchanges to be held between teachers and allow the guests from Thailand to tour some of NPUST’s facilities, including the School History Museum, Lagoon Reading Room, Green Energy Greenhouse, and Smart Agriculture Center. Hopes are that the visit will lead to increased cooperation on teaching and research and help put the two parties’ vision for “Taiwan-Thailand talent cultivation” into practice.
Meizhou University is located in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Founded in 1934 as the Northern Thailand Agricultural Normal School, Meizhou currently stands among Thailand’s 28 national universities. As one of Thailand’s oldest and most prestigious national agricultural schools, their research and academics in agriculture are second to none in the country. In 2014, their university’s College of Agriculture established a dual degree program with NPUST’s counterpart, allowing graduate students to take advantage of the mutually beneficial features of both schools.
