Japanese government supports engineering education
in Thailand and Southeast Asia
By Jon Fernquest |
Today's Bangkok Post business section has an article on a Japanese foreign aid programme to "improve engineering services and quality, and facilitate the free flow of engineering professionals within the region."
SEEDNET or "Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network was set up by the Japanese government in 2001 to help develop the engineering profession in Thailand and the greater Southeast Asian region.
The organisation has funded engineering education in the region and the results of the project can already be seen in the long list of publications available on their site [link to list].
Thailand has a shortage of engineers:
In Thailand alone, demand for engineers is as high as 10,000 a year, while the country produced only between 4,000 and 5,000 engineers yearly.By 2012, Thailand would need more than 40,000 engineers, particularly in automotive engineering professionals.
Many qualified individuals have been attracted to civil engineering and construction because of the lucrative property industry, but engineers are needed in other areas.
The new programme will encourage research in many key engineering areas: energy, food, natural disasters and information technology (IT).
The details of the programme and the financing:
"The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) has provided a US$32-million, five-year fund...The Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (Seednet), which includes Thailand, is ultimately aimed at creating 40,000 new engineers within the region over the next five years.
Thailand has been chosen as the engineering hub for the region with Chulalongkorn University as the headquarters of the Asean Federation of Engineering Organisations (AFEO) which comprises 19 universities in 10 countries.
Sucharit Koonpanakulvong, an executive director of Seednet [and assistant dean of the Engineering Faculty of Chulalongkorn University], said the $32-million fund followed the first phase of the project, to which the JICA had allocated $22 million in 2003...
He said Seednet produced 400 new engineers under the first phase. It expects to create 40,000 engineers over the next five years."
(Source: Bangkok Post, business section, 06-02-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
foreign aid - money given by rich countries to help poor countries
facilitate - help
professionals - people with jobs that require advanced training and high standards
civil engineering - engineering that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of structures such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings (See Wikipedia)
lucrative - profitable, makes a lot of money
Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) - an independent governmental agency that coordinates official development assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan (See website and Wikipedia)
Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (Seednet) - a Japanese organisation established in 2001 that aims at promoting human resources development in engineering in ASEAN (See website)
hub for the region - center of activity for the Southeast Asian region
Asean Federation of Engineering Organisations (AFEO) - to provide information on practising engineers within ASEAN with the ultimate purpose of facilitating their mobility within ASEAN, to establish a framework of mutual recognition of qualifications in order to allow engineers who wish to practise outside their home country to carry with them a guarantee of ability, to provide information on individual engineers for the benefit of prospective employers, to improve the quality of engineers by monitoring and reviewing standards, to promote cultural and professional links among members of the engineering profession within ASEAN (See website)
