ASEAN offers scholarship on business, technology study

JAKARTA (Xinhua) – In line with the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on Strengthening Cooperation on Education to Achieve an ASEAN Caring and Sharing Community, the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) is encouraging regional cooperation by offering scholarships in selected ASEAN universities to students wishing to study programs related to business and technology, a press statement said on Thursday.

The ASEAN-BAC scholarship program aims to foster”ASEAN youths with ASEAN hearts” and is a way for the private sector of ASEAN to continually contribute to the enhancement of”People-to-People Connectivity” (P2P). The deadline of the scholarship application is May 31, 2012.

This initiative received full support from ASEAN leaders when ASEAN-BAC presented it as a key recommendation during its annual dialogue session with ASEAN Leaders on the sideline of the 19th ASEAN Leaders Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

As a start, ASEAN-BAC has agreed to work with Tan Tao University (TTU) in Viet Nam to offer scholarships for 50 students from ASEAN Member States worth up to 27,500 U.S. dollars per student, in the 2012 and 2013 school year.

It is hoped that this pilot project between ASEAN-BAC and TTU will spur other universities in the region to offer similar programs for students ASEAN-wide.