Prof. Jean-Louis Armand, AIT President and the Norwegian Ambassador, H. E. Mrs. Ragne Birte Lund at the agreement signing on May 14, 2003
Signing of the
NORAD-AIT Agreement: 2003-2005
An agreement between the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) was signed on May 14, 2003. Under this agreement, the Government of Norway will provide support in an amount of not exceeding NOK 15,000,000 to AIT during 2003-2005. The objective is to 'strengthen the capability of institutions in the developing countries in Asia to address issues related to poverty alleviation, environmentally sustainable natural resources management and gender responsive development through higher education and training of relevant personnel.'
The funds will be utilized to offer master degree scholarships to nationals from NORAD programme countries in Asia, and to support faculty members in the Gender and Development, and Regional and Rural Development Planning fields of study at AIT. In addition, the grant will facilitate the publication of AIT's Gender, Technology and Development (GTD) Journal.
From left: Prof. Jean-Louis Armand, AIT President; Prof. Mario T. Tabucanon, Provost; H. E. Mrs. Ragne Birte Lund, Norwegian Ambassador and Prof. Chongrak Polprasert, SERD Dean.
The Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Mrs. Ragne Birte Lund and the AIT President Professor Jean-Louis Armand signed the agreement at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok on behalf of NORAD and AIT.
The NORAD-AIT cooperation dates back to 1978 when the Norwegian Government initially provided 10 scholarships for Asian nationals (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) to study at AIT. The cooperation has expanded ever since, and this year marks the 25 years of cooperation between NORAD and AIT. The strength of this long standing cooperation and partnership lies on the foundation of complementarity of the mission of AIT to develop highly qualified and committed professionals who will play a leading role in the development of the region and its integration into the global economy, and that of NORAD's goal of poverty alleviation and sustainable development by building and strengthening capabilities of Asian countries and its institutions. Up to April 2003, through its partnership with NORAD, AIT has produced 384 graduates, a significant number of whom are women. The NORAD-AIT Cooperation programme aims to strengthen the institutional capabilities of the NORAD programme countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, Nepal, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam during 2003-2005 through higher education and training.