UTAR and Jeonbuk National University, Republic of Korea exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at UTAR Kampar Campus on 27 July 2022 to establish collaboration with one another.

The MoU was pre-signed by UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat and Jeonbuk National University President Prof Dr Dong-Won Kim. The MoU was exchanged by UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Goi Bok Min and Jeonbuk National University Vice President Prof Jaebaek Lee.

Representing UTAR President, Prof Goi in his speech said, “UTAR’s vision is to be a global university of educational excellence with transformative societal impact. To ensure this vision becomes a reality, UTAR, since its inception in 2002, has actively sealed MoUs and MoAs with over 530 partners ranging from universities to corporations from more than 30 economies. These collaborations have unlocked multiple opportunities ranging from staff and student exchanges to joint ventures in research.”

He added, “Such joint initiatives have also resulted in many positive outcomes such as students of both economies being exposed to cultural and experiential learning through exchange programmes, staff working together for joint research, sharing of resources and other remarkable achievements. Today, it is with great delight that we will officially welcome Jeonbuk National University into UTAR’s growing list of partnerships. With this MoU, UTAR’s Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) and Jeonbuk National University will officially begin the strategic partnership to initiate joint projects/research, staff and student exchanges, study visits, industrial placement opportunities, co-supervision of the postgraduate studies and et cetera.”

On behalf of Jeonbuk National University, Prof Kim said, “I am very happy today that my university and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a partnership. I hope that this MoU exchange ceremony will be the first step towards the implementation of cooperation between both universities in the principle of mutual benefit.”

He added, “The cooperation between both institutions includes and is not limited to exchanging students and visiting scholars. Exchange students from both universities will stay in their host university for at least one semester, studying their major. Language students are also welcome to join our university to study Korean as a language during a vacation or a regular semester. Furthermore, cooperation in research will be prompted by exchanging faculty members. They will be invited by their host university as a visiting scholar to stay at their corresponding department for at least one semester doing collaborative research. I hope this successful implementation of the MoU and the partnership between the two universities will contribute to mutual understanding and subsequently to world peace.”

Also present at the MoU exchange ceremony were Jeonbuk National University Director of International Cooperation Prof Mun Suk Ahn, Jeonbuk National University Coordinator for Office of International Affairs HyoJae Lee, Dean of UTAR Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) Ir Prof Dr Ng Choon Aun, FEGT Deputy Deans Assoc Prof Ir Ts Dr Leong Kah Hon and Dr Lo Po Kim, FEGT Head of Department of Environmental Engineering Assoc Prof Dr Mohammed J. K. Bashir, Faculty of Science (FSc) Dean Assoc Prof Dr Lim Tuck Meng, FSc Deputy Dean Dr Phoon Lee Quen, Director of UTAR Division of Community and International Networking Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn and his Deputy Director Dr Chen, I-Chi.