PRESS RELEASE
14 November 2017
 

Kaoshiung, Taiwan — The National Sun Yat Sen University (NSYSU) in cooperation with the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center, the Philippine Board of Investments, and the Department of Science and Technology recently held a series of academic exchange lectures at its main campus in this southern city.

Aimed at strengthening education and research cooperation, six Philippine experts representing various fields of study delivered lectures alongside Taiwanese experts and discussed current developments and trends in their respective fields of research from November 6 to 7.

Education cooperation is one of the cornerstones of Taiwan’s New South Bound Policy, a key component of President Tsai Ing-wen’s national development strategy, that seeks to deepen Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, education, tourism and trade ties with the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

The joint workshop and lecture series organized by NSYSU covers many of the New South Bound Policy focus areas, and opens the opportunity for both governments to identify gaps and opportunities where the Philippines and Taiwan can further strengthen their cooperation and collaboration.

Addressing the attendees of the forum composed of some 100 academics, professors and students, Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman and Resident Representative Angelito Tan Banayo, said, “The Philippines welcomes Taiwan’s initiatives under the New South Bound Policy and in recognizing the Philippines as one of the priority countries under this policy. As a response, the Philippines would like to establish its position as Taiwan’s closest partner and main gateway to South East Asia and the New South Bound Countries.

“The academe plays a big role in industry capacity building and we recognize the need for closer academic cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines to further enhance Philippine Strengths in Research and Development, which are catalysts for innovation, technology advancement, production efficiency and going up the value chain,” he added.

The academic experts and attendees were welcomed by Prof. Mitch MIng-Chi Chou, NSYSU Vice President. Event organizer Professor Chua-Chin Wang, of the Chip Implementation Center also provided a background of the close cooperation between NSYSU and the Philippines.

Currently, 3 IC-Design Professors from Philippine State Universities are undergoing further immersion studies arranged by the Philippine Board of Investments and the Philippine Trade & Investment Center in Taipei at the Chip Implementation Center under the direct supervision of Dr. Wang.

This immersion study program is designed to further boost the country’s IC Design and manufacturing industry and is seen as part of industry capacity building efforts. Under this program, the IC Design professors, are in turn expected to impart their learnings to their students at their respective universities.

The visiting experts who flew to Kaohsiung to deliver lectures during the workshop were Dr. Richard Hizon, Director of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He delivered a presentation on IC Design.

Dr. Raul Destura, Associate Professor of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila, who provided an update on Medicine and Biotechnology trends in the Philippines; Dr. Emma Sales, Professor, College of Agriculture at the University of Southern Mindanao, who delivered a lecture on Agriculture- related sciences; Dr. Augustus Resurrection, Professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering who gave a lecture on current Philippine efforts in Environmental Protection; Dr. Mary Beth Maningas, Professor at the University of Santo Tomas - Department of Biological Sciences who shared developments in Philippine Marine Biotechnology research and studies.

And Professor Fortunato de la Peña, Jr. of the UP College of Fine Arts who shared Philippine updates and trends in Fine Arts and Design studies.

Three Philippine State University Professors also provided a presentation on their research and immersion work at NSYSU, namely: Ralph Gerard Sangalang, Instructor and Program Coordinator of the Electronics Engineering Program at Batangas State University; Allenn Lowaton, Assistant Professor of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering (EECE) Department of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology and Lean Karlo Tolentino, Head of the Department of Electronics Engineering at the Technological University of the Philippines.

Other universities from Southern Taiwan also attended the lecture series to explore cooperation and collaboration opportunities with the Philippine Universities.

Next month, NSYSU will bring a number of University Professors and Experts in IC-Design to give lectures at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and the Batangas State University, as part of the Philippines-Taiwan cooperation in industry capacity building for IC-Design, an industrial sector with the highest levels of cooperation between the two economies.

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