Exchange Agreement Renewed with the National University of Laos & President Delivers Lecture

July 24, 2019

On Friday, July 19, 2019, the President of the National University of Laos (NUOL), Dr. GNOPHANXAY Somsy, visited TUFS for the signing ceremony of the renewal of the international academic exchange agreement.

After the ceremony, President HAYASHI Kayoko, Professor SUZUKI Reiko (Institute of Global Studies), Associate Professor KIKUCHI Yoko (Institute of Global Studies), and Visiting Associate Professor THAMMAVONG Soulikanh (Senior Language Lecturer) joined a discussion on past exchange achievements and future prospects.

TUFS and NUOL signed a comprehensive agreement and a student exchange agreement in 1998, and the two sides began their exchange programs in 1999. In a short-term visit program to NUOL starting in 2015, 40 students from TUFS have participated in the last 4 years. With cooperative relationships also in Japanese language education, TUFS plans to dispatch graduate students to NUOL through the “NIHONGO Partners” program from August this year. TUFS is the only university in Japan to have a Lao language major, and was the first university in Japan to sign an agreement with a university in Laos. It was agreed that TUFS and NUOL will continue to enhance mutual understanding and education between the two cultures through such exchanges.

The following week, July 22 (Monday), President Somsy was invited to give a lecture on ‘Education in Laos’ as part of the short-term Joint Education Program under the ongoing 'TUFS Japan Specialist Program for the Enhancement of Japanese Language and Cultural Outreach in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia' project.