Opening greeting to the AIMS Symposium by Jun Ikeda, University of Tsukuba
1. Good morning everyone, as the representative of the University of Tsukuba I would like toextend the warmest welcome to all participants in this symposium and to Tsukuba, theCity of Science.

2. These are the last days of a usually cold and snowy winter in Japan and even if the air isstill chilly outside our hearts are blooming like the coming spring due to the joy ofreceiving so many friends in our university.

3. The symposium “New Directions in Higher Education for the Development of Global HumanResources” is the result of the joint efforts by SEAMEO RIHED and the University ofTsukuba in celebrating the launching of the AIMS programme in Japan.

4. Through this endeavor the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, Sports orMEXT seeks to reinforce the bases in the area of higher education towards the formation ofglobal human resources though the mechanisms set by the AIMS Programme, which means
becoming members of a network of almost 50 institutions throughout Southeast Asia thatare already engaged in the multilateral exchange of students in the region.
5. From a total of 25 different programs on internationalization of higher education MEXT
Japan selected 7 for the implementation of AIMS at the starting point. These 7 programs
include joint endeavors carried out by Hokkaido University together with Tokyo
University and Rakuno Gakuen University; the program engaging Tokyo University ofAgriculture and Technology, Ibaraki University and Tokyo Metropolitan University; andprograms carried out individually by Hiroshima University, Sophia University, Waseda
University, Ritsumeikan Universtiy and the University of Tsukuba.

6. This event represents one of the many fruitful outcomes of a long relation between
SEAMEO as a whole and the University of Tsukuba as one of SEAMEO’s affiliated members.
At the same time this represents a seed for the future toward deeper and wider
relationships between not only these institutions but more importantly to Southeast Asiaand Japan.
7. Our motto at the University of Tsukuba is “imagine the future” and this is exactly what thissymposiums aims to do: share ideas, build friendship, strengthen partnerships among
higher education institutions for a prosperous future with peace and sustainable
development for all; we have gathered here on the belief that mutual understanding
springs out of interaction, and that diversity creates synergy.

8. Both, AIMS and this symposium, bring together educational institutions and serve as
platforms for the encounter of peoples and countries. As the Nations in Southeast Asia
prepare to join the ASEAN Community next year, Japan too seeks to build bridges and tocreate bonds with the countries in the region through cooperation in higher education.
9. Globalization is affecting the life of people in contemporary societies and its effects areboth extending horizontally (to include more societies) and vertically (by making itseffects deeper in everyday life).

10. The impacts of this phenomenon are wide and far reaching some areas of social life areparticularly affected, most clear examples include the integration of the markets and theincreased level of mobility of goods, services and peoples. Gradually this is expanding toother areas such as security or culture.

11. Clearly the higher education scenario is not an exception to it and this symposium
addresses some of those impacts through developing ways of cooperation that materializein the exchange of students.
12. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the encounters produced in thissymposium and the one taking place tomorrow at the University Hall that brings together
all SEAMEO Centers and other educational institutions in Japan, jointly organized by theUniversity of Tsukuba and SEAMEO Secretariat under the name of “Bridging the ASEAN
Community and Japan through Education” represents a unique opportunity in giving
globalization a desired direction towards the future.

13. Promoting the exchange of students among countries, as it happens in AIMS, while
enhancing collaborative encounters for research and other forms of cooperation among
SEAMEO Centers and other similar institutions in the University of Tsukuba and in Japan
constitute visionary strategies to “direct” globalization.

14. This symposium will address two major topics that reflect how higher education can give
direction to the global trends:① First by analyzing the issue of how universities and governments strive to
produce global human resources among their graduates; and② Analyze main challenges universities face at the time of sending and receiving
students engaged in temporary mobility programs and the strategies universities
use to address those challenges.

15. With this in mind, I would like to invite all of you not only to share your experiences,interests and goals, but more importantly to imagine and to build an auspicious future forall.

16. We sincerely appreciate the efforts done for all participants and for coming such a long
way not only to Tsukuba but also to Japan. Special thanks go to the representative of MEXT
Japan Deputy Director General of Higher Education Bureau Mr. Tsukasa Nakaoka, theDirector of SEAMEO RIHED Dr. Sauwakon Ratanawijitrasin, as well as all other SEAMEO
Centers’ Directors that join us today; the same gratitude goes to all the representatives
from universities in Japan joining AIMS as well as representatives from partner
universities of the University of Tsukuba from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The
Philippines and Vietnam; and to all participants as well.
17. We wish you a productive time during the lectures today and the discussion session in theafternoon. Once more thank you very much.