On the morning of March 21st, the signing ceremony of the strategic cooperationand the employment of the honorary dean of Sino-Thai International Rubber College (STIRC), QUST was held in the No. 1 Lecture Hall in Laoshan Campus. Attended the ceremony were Pol. Gen. Aswin Kwanmuang, mayor of Bangkok, Mr. Thaweesak Lertprapan, deputy mayor of Bangkok, Mrs. Waraphannee Damrongmanee, deputy consul-general of Royal Thai Consulate-General in Qingdao, Phinij Jarusombat, chairman of Thai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council, LIU Xingyun, secretary of the CPC Committee of QUST, MA Lianxiang, president of QUST, LI Qingling, deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of QUST, ZHANG Yan, president of Rubber Valley Group Co., Ltd, and LU Jianping, vice-president of Rubber Valley Group Co., Ltd.At the ceremony,LIUXingyun and Aswin Kwanmuang respectivelymade a speech and exchanged their gifts. Phinij Jarusombat wasemployed as the honorary dean of Sino-Thai International Rubber College, QUST,then MA Lianxiang issued the letter of appointment. An agreement ofstrategic cooperation on Sino-Thai International Rubber College between QUST and Thai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council was signed. LI Qingling presided over the ceremony.
According toAswin Kwanmuang, the Thai delegation had visited CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd and Rubber Valley Group Co., Ltd after arriving in Qingdao yesterday. In particular, they were pleased to witness the establishment of STIRC among QUST, Thai Prince of Songkla University and Rubber Valley Group Co., Ltd. He said thatThai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council can offer scholarship opportunities forSTIRC.He added that there are more than 40 secondary schools in Bangkok, and the council can support the graduates of these schools to go toSTIRC for further study by applying for scholarships. He hoped China and Thailand cooperate and develop together in raw rubber materials and rubber technology through QUST.
On behalf of QUST, LIU Xingyun gave the welcome speech. He said thatas a concrete implementation of the national strategy of “One Belt One Road”,STIRC whichhas been highly valued bytheChinese and Thai governments is given new responsibilities and missions. With the philosophy of “One Belt One Road”, “Rubber as the Medium” and “Education First”, the college will be committed to the cooperation and exchanges between China and Thailand,especially to cultivate talents to support the exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, science, technology and culture. Now QUST is in the critical period of implementing its 13th Five-Year Plan and its Comprehensive Reform Plan, seizing the opportunities of “Double First-rate” construction. Its Chemistry, Materialogy andEngineeringScience subjects have entered the top 1% of ESI, and its international cooperation in running colleges had entered a new stage. Under this situation QUST has the will and the ability to give full play of the characteristics of the major of rubber, promote the international education and curriculum construction of the rubber major, improve personnel training programs and teaching quality assurance system, build up high-level teaching staff, and set up a platform of international education, so as to buildSTIRC into a distinctive brand project of “international cooperation”.STIRC is going to have its first group of students majoring in International Education. At this important moment, employing Phinij Jarusombat as thehonorarydean will further deepen the educational exchanges and cooperationamong QUST, the colleges and universities,and scientific research institutions,enhance popularity and influence of the college, and guide the college to have a rapid and healthy development. He also hoped the Bangkok municipal government,Thai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council and the Qingdao municipal government continue to support the construction and development of the college,in order to realize the construction goals of the college as soon as possible, make new greater contributions to the exchanges between the two countries and the strategy of “One Belt One Road”, and propel the higher education of both China and Thailand to a new stage and make more achievements.
MA Lianxiangissued the letter of employing Phinij Jarusombat as thehonorarydean of Sino-Thai International Rubber College, QUST and presented flowers to him accompaniedby Aswin Kwanmuang. After receiving the letter,Phinij Jarusombat expressedthat he would like to take his responsibilities to make every effort to improve the running level of STIRC, and constantly expand its impact. He added that Thailand is the world’s largest producer of natural rubber while China is the world’s largest rubber consumer. The cooperation in rubber industry between China and Thailand is a win-win strategy for both sides. The establishment of the college is a good example of education cooperation under the guide of “One Belt One Road” strategy. He hoped to further promote the friendship between the two countries, and to achieve some new breakthroughs, such asineconomy, trade,and tourism.
At the ceremony, MA Lianxiang, on behalf of QUST, andPhinij Jarusombat, on behalf of Thai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council, signed the strategic cooperation agreement onSTIRC. According to the agreement, the two sides will build the college into a “flagship project” which will be prominent in the field of cultural education in China and Thailand. Through the model of cross-border cooperative education based on Government-Industry-University-Research-Finance Cooperation, the two sides will also carry out solid projects, pragmatic cooperation on economy and trade, form a complete industry chain of rubber and a rubber industry network with complementary advantages.Both sideswill try to make STIRC a government program of both China and Thailand, jointly set up Sino-Thai Rubber Industry Education Fund to support the scientific research, talent cultivation, technical exchange and innovation of rubber industry of the two countries,andhelpSTIRC establish the special scholarships.Thai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council willtake the lead to co-organize Thai Expert Advisory Committee and Sino-Thai University Union ofRubberIndustryEducation in STIRC, constantly promote the college in Southeast Asian countries with Thailand as the center, develop strategic partners and cooperative academies or educational institutions, and build the college into a base for the entrepreneurs of the two countries to communicate, exchange visits, and have further study.
Attended the ceremony were the Thai delegation of 57officials headed by the mayor of Bangkok and QUST representatives of its School Office, Department of Personnel, International Office, Department of Science and Technology, Development Planning Office, School of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, International College and Sino-Thai International Rubber College.
Attached: A brief introduction toPhinij Jarusombat
Phinij Jarusombat, former Deputy Prime Minister,Minister of Science and Technology,Minister of Industry andMinister of Health of Thailand, is now the chairman of Thai-Chinese Cultural & Relationship Council. In 2012, he was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of Qingdao” and in 2013, the title of “Honorary Citizen of Shandong Province”.
(Translated by Wang Xing)
