A memorandum of understanding to boost collaboration and partnership in various areas of education development was signed by The University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), China, on Friday, May 17, 2024.
Signed at the USP Laucala Campus in Suva, Fiji, the MOU seeks to foster cooperation between BUPT and USP and explore areas of collaboration in student exchange, exchange of faculty, scholars and staff and sharing of teaching and academic materials, publications, and other pertinent information.
It also aims to promote research collaboration in the fields that are of mutual interest between research staff, departments and schools of both institutions.
USP Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Education Professor Jito Vanualailai, the co-signatory of the MOU from USP, said the new partnership between the two institutions is significant to USP and its 12 member countries given the region’s heavy reliance on ICT as a tool for learning and teaching, an area BUPT has mastered and excelled in.
“Similar to USP, BUPT is a research-oriented university, and we look forward to joint research collaborations between our universities that will undoubtedly boost our common research capacity and output,” Professor Vanualailai added.
Delivering her remarks during the event, BUPT Chairwoman Xu Mei stressed their interest in pragmatic collaboration including opportunities for cultural experience between the two institutions.
“I am pleased and honoured to learn of USP’s role in leading cultural exchange in the Pacific and with China by establishing the Confucius Institute at your Laucala Campus, which provides opportunities for regional students to learn Chinese.”
She added, “Our university’s expertise in ICT and information technology is something we wish to share with USP to help further develop these areas in the region through collaboration”.
Through the memorandum of understanding, the collaboration between USP and BUPT will be effective for three years.
