AIT President Said Irandoust together with Ambassador Yoon Jee-joon, Senior Advisor to President, and former Ambassador of Korea to Thailand and also Pakistan / Afghanistan, visited Afghanistan during 2-5 June 2007.
On route to Afghanistan they passed by for a day in India and visited the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi where they met with Professor Surendra Prasad, Director of IIT Delhi, Dr. Hem Chandra Gupta, Deputy Director, and Prof. Manoj Datta, Department of Civil Engineering who is also the Dean of the Alumni Affairs & International Programmes. They discussed the possibility of IIT Delhi partnering AIT as a resource in some of the institute’s initiatives in the region, especially through AIT Centers, which will be further considered.
The AIT delegation also met with Mr. Ajaya Pradhan (DHI Representative in India), President of the AIT Alumni Association (AITAA), India Chapter and some other alumni which included Mr. Amit Jain (Managing Director, IRG Systems South Asia Private Ltd.), Dr. H.A. Kazmi (Managing Director, Smeaton Engineering Consultants Pvt. Ltd.) and Mr. Sanjaya Man Shrestha (Industrial Development Office, UNIDO Regional Office for South Asia) during which AIT President was able to provide members of the alumni with an update on some of AIT’s recent initiatives and ways in which the alumni could assist and partner the Institute.
In Afghanistan, the AIT delegation were officially received in Kabul by H. E. Mr. Kang Sung-Zu, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Afghanistan and our AIT alumni Dr. Venkatesh Sundararaman (Economist, South Asia Region "Human Development Sector", the World Bank) and were accompanied by Dr. Suman Kr. Karna (Urban Development Advisor, UN-Habitat, Afghanistan) who facilitated many of the meetings.
An AIT student Mr. Mohammad Qaasim, Student Ambassador, (currently studying in the structural engineering field of study, SET) also assisted the AIT delegation in linkages and coordinated the meetings with Kabul Polytechnic University, Ministry of Energy and Water, and University of Balkh.
Some of the collaborations discussed are highlighted below:
World Bank and Ministry of Higher Education
AIT President met with officials from Kabul Polytechnic University (Dr. Mir Kakhruddin, (Chancellor) and the Ministry of Higher Education (Mr. Abdul Hai Sofizada, Policy Advisor, Ministry of Higher Education Project Coordination Unit for Strengthening Higher Education Program World Bank Project), who expressed keen interest and are willing to support AIT to be a partner of Kabul Polytechnic University http://www.polytechnic-kabul.org/. in a project agreement on "Strengthening Higher Education Program" which was initiated by World Bank and Ministry of Higher Education in 2005
http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?Projectid=P089040&Type=Overview&theSitePK=40941&pagePK=64283627&menuPK=64282134&piPK=64290415
Six state universities in Afghanistan namely, Kabul University, Nangarhar University, Kabul Polytechnic University, University of Balkh, Kandahar University, and University of Herat, have been selected to be part of the agreement. The activities under the project agreement started in 2006 with Kansas State University having recently signed two three-year contracts worth 5.5 million US dollars
http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/may07/Kabuluniv50907.html to improve the College of Engineering and the Department of English at Kabul University http://www.ku.edu.af/ through funds provided by the World Bank. Some other foreign universities such as University of Brighton (UK), San Diego State University (US) and Ohio State University (US) have also initiated discussions with some of the other universities.
The Ministry of Higher Education is the responsible authority which approves any partnership agreement and the World Bank requirement is that there must be high-impact, high volume and high employability of the graduates in any type of academic / institutional collaboration. The World Bank funds are categorized as follows: capacity building of faculty - upgrading lecturers with bachelor's degrees to masters' level (US$ 200,000 is already available as funding for each university); curriculum development; training of trainers; and also for infrastructure development (laboratories / equipment etc.).
In addition, the University of Balkh and Herat are keen on partnering AIT in curriculum development, capacity building of faculty, training of trainers etc. Approximately 70,000 students' graduate from high school annually but the existing universities are only able to absorb around 20,000 of them. Therefore, there are huge prospects for AIT in partnering Afghanistan in the strengthening of the higher education system in the country. In the context of Kabul University also AIT could host a number of masters and Ph.D. students and also train some of the staff under their existing agreement with Kansas State University.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The AIT delegation met with the Director General, Department of Cultural Relations and Protocol General Directorate, whom they presented with the AIT new Charter. They also requested the Ministry's support and assistance in also, informing the other relevant government agencies on AIT's interest in partnering with Afghanistan.
Ministry of Public Works
The AIT delegation met with the Technical Deputy Minister of Public Works to whom they extended AIT's offer to assist in the capacity building of the ministry officials through relevant training which could be conducted either in Afghanistan or at AIT.
Ministry of Energy and Water
The AIT delegation met with the Advisor and Acting Deputy Minister, Irrigation and Water Resources. The meeting was also attended by the FAO National Project Coordinator & Chief Engineer. There is a huge need for assistance in the energy and water sectors and AIT President indicated AIT's interest in capacity building through training of the ministry officials. The Acting Deputy Minister will be visiting Bangkok in the beginning of July this year and AIT President has extended an invitation to the Minister and officials to also visit AIT during which more detailed discussions can take place.
Ministry of Urban Development and Planning
The AIT delegation discussed with the Deputy Minister, Director General of Planning and UN-Habitat Urban Development Advisor on possible partnership between AIT, the Ministry of Urban Development and Planning, and UN Habitat for the capacity building of the ministry staff, details of which will be further worked out, for which Dr. Karna, an AIT alumnus, will serve as focal person.
Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)
The AIT delegation met with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Resident Representative and Administrative Officer, discussing areas which there could be synergies and partnership between KOICA and AIT on a Korea Vocational Training Center as well as Central Officials Training Institute for government officials.
The Government of the Republic of Korea is very active in Afghanistan through KOICA. Korea has also set up an IT Center at the Kabul Polytechnic University and established a hospital in Kabul.
https://www.koica.go.kr/wems/wm_frm_view.jsp?intMenuCode=1007
The AIT delegation also met with the USAID Education Advisor, USAID higher education representative, Cultural Attaché at the US Embassy, and Counselor and Head of Office at the Swedish Embassy, and discussed ways in which AIT could partner in some of their ongoing and planned initiatives.