Okayama University Opened ITS Office for Global Network Project to Promote Study in Japan (ASEAN Regional Office), Indonesia
On September 17, Okayama University held an opening ceremony for its new office for the Global Network Project to Promote Study in Japan (ASEAN Regional Office), located in Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Surabaya in Indonesia. At the ceremony, the office opening was celebrated by Rector Bambang Pramujati, Ph.D. and other representatives from ITS and Vice President KISHIDA Mitsuyo from Kumamoto University, SixERS member (The Consortium of Six National University in Japan composed of Chiba University, Niigata University, Kanazawa University, Okayama University, Nagasaki University, and Kumamoto University), which is a partner institution of this project. Additionally, Professor KADOTA Isao from the Faculty of Environment, Life, Natural Science and Technology and Director KAWAGUCHI Katsumi of International Affairs Department were in attendance, representing Okayama University. In his congratulatory address, Rector Bambang Pramujati, Ph.D. gave his encouragement and high expectations to the ITS office that the information on Study in Japan to be provided by the office will encourage students to open the doors to study in Japan. Vice President Kishida extended her willingness to work not only for Study in Japan, but also for further friendship and cooperation between Indonesia and Japan, and to provide opportunities to foster a global mindset. Professor Kadota expressed his expectations that the opening of the ITS office will further promote inter-university exchange between Indonesia and Japan. After the opening ceremony, a commemorative seminar on the office opening was held jointly by Kumamoto University and Okayama University, participated by 80 ITS students. Following the icebreaker and Study in Japan and scholarship information session by Study in Japan Coordinator YAJIMA Kaori, Vice President Kishida and Professor Kadota took the stage to introduce the attractiveness of respective universities and programs. In the future, based in the ITS Office, we will promote Study in Japan from Indonesia by all-Japan effort through visiting high schools and universities in and around the region to provide consultations and seminars on Study in Japan. ● What is the Global Network Project to Promote Study in Japan (ASEAN Regional Office)? Okayama University was appointed to implement the “Global Network Project to Promote Study in Japan (ASEAN Regional Office)” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) - Japan in 2024. We aim to increase the number of international students from ASEAN by 2.7 times (103,861 students) in 5 years. In the previous phases, Okayama University was commissioned by MEXT - Japan to implement the “Coordinator for Study in Japan (Myanmar)” in 2014, aiming to double the number of students from Myanmar over a 5-year period. As a result, we were able to triple the number of students in 4 years, achieving our goal one year ahead. In 2018, the name of the project was changed to the “Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN,” which was recommissioned in 2019 for another 5 years, and the target region was expanded to 10 ASEAN countries. Currently, we have five overseas offices: Yangon, Mandalay, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane. In 2024, we will establish new ones in Indonesia and Malaysia, the most priority countries of the current phase, and will work from these bases to recruit excellent international students from ASEAN for Study in Japan.