As the first step of the trip to South-East Asia, the Hungarian delegation had a meeting at the Hungarian Embassy in Singapore with Attila Juhász, consul and deputy head of mission. In the course of the official visit, the consul gave a presentation on the higher education system of Singapore, as well as the activities of the Hungarian government in the region in the fields of education and research. He also discussed the training potential of the area, the value of diplomas and doctoral degrees issued in the EU on the local labour market, and the preferences of Singaporeans in terms of advanced studies. On the basis of the information gained at the embassy, the Faculty of Economics will be able to appear more efficiently on the Singaporean higher education market, and their presence will be further reinforced by the support of the embassy. In addition to the English-language programme available at the Faculty of Economics, members of the delegation also presented the English-language programme of the “Ihrig Károly” Doctoral School towards which, as indicated by the embassy, much interest is expected in the region.
The Faculty of Economics of the University of Debrecen has had a long-term cooperation with the Universitas Sam Ratulangival, operating in the city of Manado in Indonesia. One of the main aims of coming to this institution was to return the visit paid earlier by the leaders of the Indonesian university, and also to meet with the newly elected faculty leadership. In the course of the official visit with dean Herman Karamoy, the Hungarian delegation discussed joint grant opportunities, the launching of new programmes in double degree and joint degree arrangements, as well as the possibilities for faculty, researcher and student mobility. Members of the Hungarian delegation then gave a presentation on the programmes and research projects of the Faculty of Economics and at “Ihrig Károly” Doctoral School, which was attended by approximately one hundred interested guests. The cooperation between the two institutes will also continue in the future, and there are already discussions under way concerning the specific content of the individual themes.
Finally, the Hungarian delegation visited the campus of Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, where the Malaysian institute and the Faculty of Economics of UD ceremoniously signed a cooperation agreement. The joint declaration was signed by vice-chancellor Graeme Wilkinson on the part of the Malaysian partner, and by Károly Pető, dean, on behalf of the Faculty of Economics.
“On the basis of the declaration, Sunway University and the Faculty of Economics will start cooperation in the fields of education, research and grant activities,” emphasised Dean Pető, who also added: Sunway University is a private institute of higher education representing outstanding quality, which cooperates with such prestigious partners as Harvard University in the United States. In awareness of the specific characteristics of the operation of the institute, we can undertake the implementation of joint projects as equal partners in every respect. As regards economics, we can find every level of education also at Sunway University, ranging from the equivalent of higher-level vocational training to doctoral schools, and the practical training and research projects conducted there are also competitive in global comparison. In the field of joint educational projects, there may be opportunities for increasing the volume of the information available in connection with the ASEAN countries, while in the framework of the research cooperation projects, in addition to the formation of the inter-institutional research groups, the international recruitment activities of “Ihrig Károly” Doctoral School may be reinforced. Cooperation related to joint grants is already under way, as a significant international project is already in the preparatory stage, said the dean.
Thanks to the building of international relations, in the near future, delegations are expected to arrive at the University of Debrecen from a number of higher education institutions in the region.
