On 11 September 2006, H.E. Mr. Laurent Aublin, Ambassador of France to Thailand and Chairman of AIT's Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and Prof. Said Irandoust, AIT President, signed an agreement between the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Asian Institute of Technology for a France/AIT Programme of Joint Research Projects for Scientific Development in the ASEAN called France / AIT Network.
France / AIT Network, a 3-year programme, aims to promote and support scientific and technological cooperation between French research institutions and universities, AIT, and
other research institutions and universities based in Asia, and the public, non-governmental and private sectors. The general theme of the research activities will be science, technology and development, with an interest on the development of the ASEAN region and a particular focus on
multidisciplinary approaches.
It will focus on 4 themes, broadly aligned with AIT's own thematic knowledge areas as follows: information and communication technology for development, water management and technology, urban and rural sustainability, and food and aquatic systems. A call for proposals will
very soon be issued for the first round of projects. Prof. Irandoust welcomed this new development, "which is a step further in our goal to promote excellence in research at AIT."