The meeting was hosted in the northern city of Hanoi on the historic
occasion of its 1000th Anniversary celebrations. This year’s meeting
saw AITAA delegates from 18 chapters attend, including representatives
from Japan and Korea.
The two-day gathering kicked off on October 23 with an international
conference on the topic “ASEAN-Vietnam Perspective”, which was held in
conjunction with the Hanoi GBM, in partnership with the
Vietnam-Thailand Business Club and AIT in Vietnam (AITVN).
AIT alumnus Dr. Bui Cach Tuyen (EV, 1992), Deputy Minister of Ministry
of National Resources and Environment and Director-General of Vietnam
Environment Administration, delivered the keynote address.
In his speech to the gathering, AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust
extended his sincere thanks and gratitude to the Government of Vietnam,
and all AIT partners in Vietnam, and also to all AIT alumni for their
strong and continued support to AIT and its mission.
“The organization and hosting of the conference by the AITAA Vietnam
Chapter is another step towards the contribution of AIT alumni in the
development of their country,” President Irandoust said.
He added that the topic of the conference was particularly relevant,
especially with Vietnam assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship for 2010 under
the slogan “Towards an ASEAN Community: From Vision to Action”. The
president called Vietnam “among the most dynamic countries of ASEAN”
and said that in its role as chair it has taken great efforts towards
the realization of the ASEAN Charter and of building an ASEAN community
in 2015 by demonstrating ASEAN’s positive participation in the
international community.
At the GBM Meeting on October 24, President Irandoust told the alumni
that since Asia and the world has changed dramatically in recent years,
AIT must also be agile, flexible, responsive and “entrepreneurial” in
all of its activities.
He stressed a sense of urgency, painting a picture of an ever
competitive landscape of higher education both in the region and
globally, coupled with changing donor funding paradigms that see
overseas development aid moving towards more bilaterally-focused
approaches that are more project-based and awarded on a competitive
process.
The president explained his administration’s ongoing efforts for
development of the new the AIT Charter, its new funding model, the
modernization of the administrative and management structures, the AIT
endowment fund and fundraising, as well as launching of several new
initiatives.
President Irandoust stressed that such ambitious efforts are about
ensuring the long term sustainability of AIT and ensuring its future
prosperity. Calling the support of the alumni “most crucial”, the
president enjoined those gathered to help AIT move towards new heights.
“Our ambitions have to be much higher, namely to be among the top or
leading institutions in the region and beyond,” he urged.
The President also took the opportunity to put forward recommendations
he had made at the GBM 2008 held in Beijing, through ways in which the
alumni can assist and partner AIT, such as through the organization of
at least one seminar in their own country highlighting AIT research
outputs that are of relevance for their country; articles in the
national media about AIT for better branding purposes; recruitment of
AIT graduates into their companies / organizations or through their
network companies / organizations, which could be done in collaboration
with the “AIT Career Center”; provision of a number of internship
positions for AIT students either in their companies / organizations or
through their networks; recruitment of students to study at AIT with or
without providing scholarships; and bringing research and development
or consultancy projects to AIT through their own companies /
organizations or networks.
Following AIT President’s presentation Mr. Srinivasan Subbaraman, an
international marketing consultant working with AIT on the “satellite
model”, provided a status update on the proposals that have been
received, discussions with potential partners / investors, ongoing work
and planned activities.
In the concluding joint session between AITAA and the AIT
administration, feedback on the satellite model scenario analysis along
with some recommendations were put forward by the alumni. The alumni
highlighted issues which AIT should take into account in the selection
and negotiation with potential partners and investors under the
satellite model.
In this context, attributes such as usage of AIT name; academic
curriculum; faculty; student internationality and management and
administration were highlighted, with a breakdown of the scenario
analysis on the degree of AIT involvement under each category. Due
diligence of potential partners and ensuring that AIT has greater
degree of control on quality assurance and quality control, involvement
in approval of knowledge areas, infrastructure aspects, were among the
important attributes highlighted.
Three examples of schemes that could be considered under the AIT
satellite model were suggested, namely AIT looking for new investors
and partners; linking up with existing well established universities;
and serving as a bridge between developed and developing countries,
with a listing the associated pros and cons under each scheme.
Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Vice President for Resource
Development (VPRD) highlighted progress on AIT’s fundraising efforts,
endowment fund, the AIT Day 2010 events, and also took the occasion to
seek the advice, views and inputs from the alumni on how best the
fundraising efforts can be pushed ahead, encouraging alumni to
collectively contribute in whatever manner they can during the internal
phase towards the campaign.
On the occasion of the GBM, AIT alumnus from Bangladesh Kh.
Mesbahuddin Ahmed, Board of Governor of the Eastern University, handed
over a personal contribution towards the fundraising campaign, and also
made a plea to the rest of his alumni colleagues to likewise come
forward in supporting the campaign efforts.
Dr. Tien Le Hoang, Associate Head for Administration and also Head of
the AIT Alumni Affairs Office, introduced the newly set-up Alumni
Affairs Office (AAO), and explained its mission and activities.
The two-day meeting in Vietnam was the result of the great efforts of
Mr. Chaovalit Ekabut, President of the AITAA Mother Chapter, and Dr. Ha
Nam Khanh Giao (SOM ‘94), President of the AITAA Vietnam Chapter and
his team. Dr. Amrit Bart, Director of the AIT in Vietnam (AITVN) and
his team, also contributed their hard work and efforts in the
organization of the GBM and related activities and events.
Aside from AIT President Said Irandoust, the AIT delegation who
attended this event comprised of Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Vice
President for Resource Development; Dr. Amrit Bart, Director AIT in
Vietnam; Mr. Srinivasan Subbaraman, International Marketing Consultant
and Chairman of the AIT Extension Board accompanied by his assistant
Dr. Niti Rattana; DrTien Le Hoang, Head of the Alumni Affairs Office;
Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe, Director for Fundraising; and Mr. Karma Rana,
Institute Secretary.
