The inaugural Taiwan-Czech Higher Education Forum was held July 21 in Taipei City to expand educational cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, the Ministry of Education said.
According to the MOE, the event was commissioned by the ministry and organized by the Taipei-based Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan. It involved senior administrators of 17 universities in the Czech Republic and 50-plus local tertiary institutions.
Those in attendance included David Steinke, head of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei; Michal Uhl, director of the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research; and the presidents of seven prestigious Czech universities.
The event touched on a wide range of topics such as the importance of global academia-industry cooperation to talent cultivation, progress on bilateral cooperative projects and the direction of future cooperation. It also featured matchmaking sessions for institutions from the two sides to discuss potential partnerships.
During her opening remarks, Lee Yu-jiuan, director-general of the MOE’s Department of International and Cross-strait Education, said the forum marked a milestone in bilateral higher education cooperation, adding that the event has created an institutionalized platform for future exchanges.
According to the MOE, Taiwan and Czechia’s close higher education ties are reflected in the 255 exchange agreements concluded between the two countries’ tertiary institutions since 1991. Around 240 Czech students are studying in Taiwan, while 343 local students are pursuing higher education in the European nation.
The forum follows a memorandum of understanding signed last year by the 12 member institutions of the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan and 14 member institutions of a Czech counterpart entity to expand cooperation in areas spanning arts, engineering, social science and technology education, the ministry added. (SFC-E)
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