Speaking at the function on 25 May 2012 hosted by Ambassador of Japan
to Thailand H.E. Mr. Seiji Kojima at his Bangkok residence, President
Irandoust thanked the Government of Japan for its long-standing
contributions to the institute.
In particular, the president expressed his gratitude to Japan for the
generous scholarship program that supports students to study at
AIT. He also added thanks for Japan’s strong support of the new
AIT Charter and for its assistance in the wake of the recent flood
disaster.
At the ceremony, Ambassador Kojima welcomed all the students to his
home. He then awarded certificates to 11 master and doctoral scholars
granted scholarships from the August 2011 intake. These students
represented India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Thailand. The
ceremony had been scheduled for last year but was postponed due to the
flood.
Later, the ambassador congratulated 6 scholarship holders (out of
18) from the August 2010 intake from Pakistan, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, and India who will graduate on 1 June 2012.
“On behalf of the Government of Japan, I congratulate all the students
who will be completing their courses at the AIT,” Ambassador
Kojima said. “I wish you all the best and success in the years to
come to make a difference wherever you go, particularly in your
homeland.”
President Irandoust spoke of the positive impact Japan has had on AIT
and the region. “The list of Japan’s contributions to AIT is very
long,” he said. Currently fifty students at AIT are supported in
some way or another by Japan.
“On behalf of AIT, I would like to thank the Government of Japan for
being one of the first countries to sign and ratify the new AIT
Charter,” President Irandoust said. He also extended his sincere
personal thanks to Ambassador Kojima for assisting AIT with pumps from
Japan to dewater the campus.
The president highlighted key examples of Japan’s cooperation
assistance which began in 1969. Japan has supported 913 students from
around the region with scholarships while 130 faculty members have been
seconded to AIT since 1971. He also noted that Japan funded the
construction of the AIT Conference Center and the main campus
library.
Other significant cooperation mechanisms included the Japan-AIT Human
Resources Development Endowment Fund, as well as numerous grants
for equipment, operations and research. Collaboration with
government agencies such as Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) greatly
benefit our students and overall research profile, the president
added.
Addressing the AIT students, President Irandoust offered his
congratulations for their accomplishments. “We are all proud of you.”
He added that the scholarship students had a particular responsibility
to live up to the expectations of their alma mater and Japan to apply
what they have learned to benefit their home countries across the
region.
The event was graced by H.E. Mr. Sohail Mahmood, Ambassador of
Pakistan; H.E. Mr. Ngo Duc Thang, Ambassador of Vietnam; Mrs. Nagma
Mallik, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India; Mr. Dornath Aryal,
Counsellor, Embassy of Nepal; Mr. Kazi Russel Pervez, First Secretary,
Embassy of Bangladesh; and Prof. Dr. Didik Sulist Yanto, Education
Attache, Embassy of Indonesia. Also attending was Mr. Masato Otaka,
Economic Minister, Embassy of Japan; Mr. Kotaro Tawara, First
Secretary, Embassy of Japan; Mr. Tetsuo Hasegawa, First Secretary,
Embassy of Japan; distinguished embassy officials; Mr. Tomoyuki
Kawabata, Deputy Representative, JICA Bangkok Office; and Mr. Shinichi
Mizumoto, Representative, JAXA Bangkok Office.
Dr. Masahiko Nagai, Assoc. Director of the Geoinformatics Center, SET,
and Representative of the Japanese Faculty, delivered a speech at the
event. Other faculty members who joined the function included Dr. Kyoko
Kusakabe, Gender and Development Studies, SERD; Dr. Yoshikazu Kamiya,
Visiting Faculty, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems,
SET; Dr. Akiyuki Kawasaki, Visiting Faculty, Water Engineering
and Management, SET; Dr. Manzul Hazarika, Acting Director of
Geoinformatics Center, SET. Mr. Olivier Drean, Interim Head-External
Relations and Communications Office (ERCO) and Ms. Sumana Shrestha,
Program Officer, ERCO, represented the AIT administration.
Two AIT students, Mr. Sawaid Abbas, 27, from Lahore, Pakistan, and Mr.
Taskin Jamal, 25, from Dhaka, Bangladesh, represented the students in
extending their appreciation to the Government of Japan.
