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The Naresuan University (NU) had once extended an invitation to the Embassy of Malaysia to join other ASEAN Embassies in Bangkok to give a special presentation on the topic of The Road to ASEAN Higher Education : What’s Now? What’s Next? The said special presentation was held at its main campus in Phitsanulok. The Embassy of Malaysia was represented by Amb. Dato’ Nazirah Hussain and Nazarudin Jaafar. Five other ASEAN Embassies, namely, from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam also participated in the session and they were represented either by their Ambassador or the First Secretary in charge of education.

 

2.         In presenting Malaysia’s perspectives on the subject matter, Amb. Dato’ Nazirah highlighted the various initiatives that had been done by Malaysia including the emphasis on internationalisation aspect under the National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP), greater participation in ASEAN University Network (AUN) as well as Malaysia - Indonesia - Thailand Mobility Programme. At the same time, briefing on the various ASEAN academic programmes offered at various tertiary institutions in Malaysia such as the one at Univerisiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA etc was given to amply illustrate the points in the presentation.

 

3.            During the roundtable session in the afternoon, Malaysia put across some pertinent points which could be considered by NU in moving the matter forward either in the form of greater utilisation of the existing mechanisms or by offering the Embassy to link NU with the relevant entities in Malaysia. Those present were very receptive to the proposals made by Malaysia. NU seized the opportunity to announce its recent decision to establish Center for ASEAN Education and its Council decision to offer scholarships to students from ASEAN countries to further their studies at NU. The above announcements were warmly welcome by all present. 

 

4.            Essentially, the presence of the Malaysian Ambassador was a testimony of commitment by Malaysia to ASEAN and was also a clear manifestation of the ‘’WE’’ spirit embraced by the regional organisation. In addition, the understanding reached at the one-day conference hopefully could be translated to concrete actions in the area of education and contribute towards the realisation of the ASEAN Community comes 2015.