Addressing the students, the Ambassador described the event as a
“great moment.” H.E. Ms. Nordgaard stated Norway is very pleased to
support capacity building in Myanmar, and the international experience
gained by students at AIT will contribute greatly towards this
initiative.
Stating that Norway has always been very supportive of AIT for the
past 35 years, the Ambassador said that “We continue to believe that
AIT has a very important role to play.” AIT is renowned for its
research, training, and outreach, and thousands of its graduates are in
influential positions, she added. While expressing her sadness at
recent developments which have affected AIT, the Ambassador was hopeful
that a sustainable solution would be found soon.
Describing the challenges in Myanmar as enormous, the Ambassador
stated that Norway is supportive of capacity building and
sustainability of the reform process in the country. She remarked that
higher education and research will help provide developmental needs of
the country.
Welcoming the Ambassador, AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust expressed
his gratitude to Norway for providing 120 scholarships spread over
three years to students from Myanmar. He thanked Norway for its
support, despite the fact that AIT was suffering lot of ‘political
problems’. He expressed the hope that the problem will be resolved
soon. Describing Norway as a great country, he stated that Norway has a
history of openness and democracy, freedom, human rights, and justice
for people. The AIT President also thanked Mr. Chatri Moonstan,
Senior Programme Office (Development Cooperation), Royal Norwegian
Embassy for his support to AIT.
A touching moment in the ceremony was the gesture of students from
Myanmar of presenting a token of gratitude to the Ambassador in the
form of a traditional handicraft souvenir from Myanmar.
A representative of the students, Ms. Seinn Seinn Mu, a doctoral from
the Regional Rural Development Program (RRDP) at AIT’s School of
Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) conveyed her gratitude on
behalf of students from Myanmar, along with fellow students from
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Lao PDR and Vietnam who are
continuing students from the previous phase of Norway MFA-AIT
cooperation.
She added that all students will return to their respective home
countries and work in local organizations in a way that would
eventually contribute to Norway’s mission of development in the region.
“May you continue on improving the quality of lives of hundreds of
millions of peoples from Asia and the Pacific Region,” she
added. Earlier Mr. Ahmed Amjad Ali, Head, External Relations
and Communications Office (ERCO), welcomed the Ambassador to AIT.
Details about the scholarship program are available at the Norwegian
Embassy website at this
link.
The event was also reported on the website at this
link.
