A total of seven Philippine universities and two academic organizations were assisted by the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in forging partnerships and facilitating exchange visits with their Taiwanese counterparts for 2018.

The number of Philippine higher educational institutions and professional academic associations accommodated by MECO is higher compared to the educational linkage efforts done last 2017. Only two universities sought the help of MECO for their visit in Taipei last year, namely, the University of the Philippines – College of Law and the San Sebastian College Recoletos – Manila.

For 2018, the seven Philippine universities assisted by MECO during their visits to Taiwan are the Isabela State University, University of Santo Tomas, Asian Institute of Management, St. Scholastica’s College – Manila, Miriam College, University of the Philippines – Visayas, and Central Bicol State University. Benchmarking and inter-departmental partnerships are the two primary purposes of these Philippine universities for their visits to Taiwan.

On the other hand, the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines (ASPAP) and the Association of Catholic Universities in the Philippines (ACUP) are the two academic organizations which paid a courtesy visit to MECO. Last March 15, 2018, ASPAP forged a memorandum of understanding for research partnership with its Taiwanese counterpart, the Taiwan Association for Schools of Public Administration (TASPA). Meanwhile, ACUP went to Taiwan to establish contact with other Catholic universities operating in Taipei.