The 2017 Taiwan-Thailand Higher Education Forum was held on June 14 in Kaohsiung. The theme of this year is Taiwan-Thailand Partnership for Enhancing Global Mobility, Innovating Leadership, and Connecting with Industry. Organized by National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, the event attracted principles and officials from 57 universities in Taiwan and 45 universities in Thailand to discuss the future of higher education under New Southbound Policy and Industry 4.0.

Taipei Tech President Wenlung Li was one of the keynote speakers among three. The speech titled Collaborations in Higher Education between Thailand & Taiwan: from the viewpoints of Taipei Tech gave a briefing of how the University connected to Thailand in various ways. Taipei Tech has two partner universities in Thailand, i.e. Chulalongkorn University and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, that offers exchange opportunities for local students in order to enhance their international mobility. Under bilateral MOU, our students can study abroad and got credits after completing hours with tuition waived. Moreover, President Li also mentioned some practical issues such as tax when student is paid for their internship. Credits and money are appealing to students, but how about companies? President Li brought up an idea that if company can reduce tax by hiring an intern, it might just increase the willingness of business owners and create more opportunities for students.

This year, 8 Taipei Tech students were chosen to finish their internships at a Taiwanese company in Thailand. President Li emphasized the importance of bilateral internship, and was looking forward to the possibility that interns might want to start their own business in Thailand after they have lived there. If they decided to stay in Thailand, it is not only good for the New Southbound Policy but also good for industrial upgrading in Thailand.