Bangkok--4 Jan--AIT
Overseas Construction Association of Japan, Inc. (OCAJI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), following which OCAJI will be sending employees of its member companies to study at AIT. Employees deputed by OCAJI will enroll in the Master’s program in Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Engineering (CEIM) at AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology (SET), besides participating in short term training courses.
The MoU and MoA were signed on 14 December 2012 by Mr. Toichi Takenaka, President, OCAJI, and Mr. Hajime Suzuki, Executive Vice President, OCAJI, respectively, and witnessed by Mr. Motoi Sasaki, Director-General, Land Economy and Construction and Engineering Industry Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Japan.
During the signing ceremony, AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust thanked the Government of Japan for its continuous support to students, grants for short term visiting faculty, operating grants, besides support for mobile pumps which helped dewater AIT following the flood in 2011.
Mr. Sasaki expressed his great happiness at the collaboration with AIT stating that the Ministry feels honored to forge collaboration with a prestigious institute like AIT, which is the best educational institute in Asia. Mr. Ryu Ishii, Deputy Director, International Office for Infrastructure Industry, Construction Industry Division, presented a brief about MLIT activities. Mr. Ryuto Nakamura, from International Office for Infrastructure Industry, Construction Industry Division, MLIT also accompanied the MLIT delegation.
From OCAJI, Mr. Suzuki delivered a presentation about OCAJI and its activities. Mr. Naoya Kosaka, Deputy General Manager, General Affairs Division, also accompanied the delegation from OCAJI. Mr. Ryotaro Hayashi, Secretary, Embassy of Japan was also present during the signing ceremony.
The signing ceremony was attended by Prof. I.M. Pandey, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Nitin V. Afzulpurkar, Dean of School of Engineering and Technology (SET); Dr. Faiz Shah, Head, Development Management, AIT Extension; Dr. Masahiko Nagai, Visiting Faculty at Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, SET, and Japanese Faculty Representative at AIT; Mr. Ahmed Amjad Ali, Head, External Relations and Communications Office (ERCO) and Ms. Sumana Shrestha, Program Officer, ERCO.
Photo caption: Prof. Said Irandoust (left) and Mr. Motoi Sasaki.