As part of its new Asia-Africa Initiative, from 3-4 December 2007, AIT organized a workshop on the topic “Doing Business in Africa” in Bangkok, which was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Thailand. Senior officials from the Ministry and other related government agencies in Thailand, ambassadors from several of the African nations, leaders of international organizations such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the African Development Bank, academia, leaders from industry and finance discussed how business relations could be further strengthened for the mutual benefit of Africa and Thailand.
Over 100 Thai investors and participants learned more of the abundant business opportunities that are emerging in Africa and also how to establish effective business networks and linkages. For many African nations, such as Malawi, Botswana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Madagascar, this event offered opportunities to attract Thai investors and to promote trade by establishing important partnerships and linkages. The workshop attracted news media from Thailand and abroad and also included a joint press conference by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand and AIT.
AIT President Said Irandoust extended on behalf of AIT our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand, for its strong support to our Asia-Africa joint undertaking. AIT has had a long and proud association with the Royal Thai Government and, more recently, the Ministry has played an instrumental role and greatly assisted AIT in the development of its new Charter. Moreover, President Irandoust congratulated the Asia-Africa team led by Professor Vilas Wuwongse, Vice President for External Relations, and Dr. Roland Amoussou, Project Manager, on this important milestone initiative and for their very hard work and efforts.
During a keynote speech at the opening of the workshop on December 3rd, President Irandoust spoke on the topic “Prospects of AIT in Promoting Cooperation and Business in Africa for Thailand”. The president said this initiative was of strategic importance for AIT. Although the Institute has provided almost 50 years of distinguished service to the development of Asia, he noted that with the strengthening of the economies of the countries in our region, and also the increased capacity of national universities and institutions, AIT must pay greater attention to the shift and focus on the development and geographical priority of donors and partners.
According to the president, AIT's internationality and its close interaction with institutions throughout the region and the world have uniquely positioned the Institute to reach out to different stakeholders at all levels in Asia and beyond. In this context, AIT can play an important role and help facilitate in bringing the region and Africa closer together. During the past half century AIT has gathered a tremendous amount of knowledge from its experiences working in the Asian region, and can provide a platform through which the region can share the experiences and best practices from Asia on higher learning in science and technology. Another good example in this context is our Afghanistan initiative.
“AIT is now a truly regional university, serving the needs of Southeast Asia and South Asia, and expanding its coverage to Central and Western Asia as well as the Middle East and Africa,” President Irandoust said, noting that AIT currently has students enrolled from Cameroon, Guinea, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, and Togo, and 48 alumni from 12 African countries.
In terms of the ‘economic miracle’ that has seen a number of Asian countries advance socio-economically, science and technology have played a crucial role in the development of these countries, President Irandoust said. Clearly, African countries are now eager to learn from these experiences. Universities and research institutions (such as AIT), in collaboration with the public and private sector, have a challenging mission ahead to reach out to the African continent and to assist Africa in meeting some of its development challenges.
But beyond the science and technology domain, there is also business to consider. So AIT’s inaugural “Doing Business in Africa” platform will lay the ground work for exploring opportunities for Thai business and investment in Africa, organizers said. Both continents complement each other to a great extent in terms of their commodities, products and transfer of knowledge and innovation. Economic growth will moreover help empower African nations in meeting some of the targets set down in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), President Irandoust added.
The president added that by acting as a bridge between the global, the regional and the local, AIT enhances opportunities for local partners to raise their knowledge, to analyze needs and to set priorities that bring them into regional and global agendas.
President Irandoust continued: “In this context, AIT can play an important role and help facilitate the bringing of Thailand and Africa closer together. The grant provided (to support this workshop) by the Thai Government is significant and yet another testimony of the co
nfidence and trust as well as close the relations AIT enjoys with its host country Thailand Government.”
In his remarks to open the workshop, H.E. Ambassador Manaspas Xuto, Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, noted his Ministry’s long and fruitful association with the AIT. Indeed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ financial contribution to AIT’s project on “Asia-Africa Initiative for Higher Learning in Science and Technology for Development”, presented on 16 November 2007, was a recent testament to this ongoing relationship, the ambassador said.
“This cooperation reflects Thailand’s confidence in Africa’s potential as well as Thailand’s commitment as a developing partner of Africa. It also shows our common desire to promote South-South cooperation in order to achieve a mutually beneficial and sustainable outcome,” H.E. Ambassador Manaspas Xuto told the large workshop audience.
Dialogue is obviously an important step in doing business. In response to a concern of Thai and African officials over the lack of high level opportunities to meet and dialogue, the opening session was dedicated to “Business Dialogue with African Ambassadors to Thailand”. This session offered Thai business and chance to communicate and interact face-to-face with a number of African ambassadors to Thailand.
H.E. Ambassador Manaspas told the workshop that Thai businessmen still do not have much knowledge of the African economy nor do they possess enough experience to compete with other countries in Africa. Saying that he was pleased to see an increasing number of Thai business people interested in doing business in Africa, the ambassador went on to say: “It is the role of Thai Government to support and facilitate Thai trade and investment in Africa and to help build confidence and supply our businessmen and investors with the required information, as this workshop on ‘Doing Business in Africa’ can attest.”
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