On December 7th, the opening ceremony of the “Science and Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship（STIE）Week for South and Southeast Asian Students” (henceforth referred to as “theSTIEWeek”) was heldat KUST’s Chenggong Campus. It was oneamong the series of activities for “the 4th Kunming Forum on Education Cooperation in South & Southeast Asia”, which was hosted by the Department of Education of Yunnan Province and organized by KUST. Mr. YI Jianhong (Vice President of KUST), Mr. ZHU Qin (on behalf of the Department of Education of Yunnan Province), and representatives of the contestants and their supervisors attended the opening ceremony. The entire ceremony was streamed live online.
The STIE Weekwas centered on the Science and Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for International Students in China. It was also supplemented by other activitiessuch as keynote lectures on innovation and entrepreneurship,anexhibition of outstanding works and student exchanges. The outstanding worksweresourced fromstudents from South and Southeast Asian countrieswho are currently registered atChinese universities. Withthecareful organization, extensive mobilization and strict qualificationreview of the organizing committee,thecompetitionhad participants forminga total of 27 teams from 10 universities inside and outsideYunnan province. The participating international studentswere from 13 countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The gold, silver, bronze medals and the other prizes were awarded based on theinnovation, commerciality, sustainability and the social value of their respective works.
Vice President YI Jianhong delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He said that KUST has always been valuing and supporting the scientific and technological innovation and the innovation and entrepreneurship of students. For now, KUST owns 23 scientific and technological innovation platforms at the national level and 132 platforms at the provincial and ministerial level. In recent years, KUST has continued to promote the implementation of internationalization strategy and to expand international exchanges and cooperation. As a result, it has successively signed cooperation agreements with 110 universities and scientific research institutions in 36 countries and regions. He hoped that the participating teams take theSTIEWeek as an opportunity to learn from each other, to help each other, to make progress together, to build long-term and stable contact channels, and to deepen exchanges and cooperation.He also encouraged the participants to provide more intellectual and scientific support for the development of relations among countries in the region, to play a role in building a closer future-shared community between China and South and Southeast Asia, and to make greater contributions to improving the quality of life and well-being of their people.
National prosperity and progress mainly depend on science and technology and innovation. At present, science and technology are increasingly becoming the main forces driving economic and social development, as well as the trends of innovation. The "Belt and Road" initiative respects the different development paths of each country and opens up a new starting point and opportunities for cooperation and exchange between China and South and Southeast Asian countries. Based on the experience of successfully holding “the Lancang-Mekong College Students’ Goodwill Games & the South and Southeast Asia College Students Culture and Sports Week-Kunming” for five consecutive years, this year for the first time, KUST organized the “Science and Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week for South and Southeast Asian students”. The STIE Week aimed to strengthen the exchange of science and technology, innovation and entrepreneurship between domestic universities and South and Southeast Asian countries, and to build a “diversified, integrated and innovative” exchange platform for young international students. The series activities of the STIE Week sought to act as a catalyst to cultivate innovative, creative and entrepreneurial talents in South and Southeast Asia, and to build a new engine for the development of the cause of studying in China.
Organizing the STIEWeek was an importantway forKUSTto improve the quality of education forthe internationalstudentsin China and to promote and integrate their innovation and entrepreneurship, academic performance and employment. Itwas alsoan important initiative forKUST to continue to promote the exchanges of science and technology,innovation and entrepreneurship with South and Southeast Asian countries. Itwas envisioned that theSTIEWeek’s role of an international exchange platform for young peopleof different countries be fully realized.
Translated by: ZHAO Liyan, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures
Edited by: MA Lifei, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures (English)
Source: School of International Education, School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Issued by: Division of International Cooperation (English)
Edited by: KUST News Center (Chinese)
