Thai Nguyen University officials participated in University Network for Tropical Agriculture meeting in Indonesia

University Network for Tropical Agriculture (UNTA) was established on December 13, 2012 as a result of the Roundtable Discussion during President’s Forum on Agriculture for Leading Universities in Southeast Asia in National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. This Network aims to implement integration and to create closer ties in order to improve higher education, training and research in the area of tropical agriculture.

UNTA initially was established by ten universities, namely Bogor Agricultural University (IPB, Indonesia), Brawijaya University (Indonesia), University Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (Malaysia), Kasetsart University and Maejo University (Thailand), Thai Nguyen University (Vietnam), National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and Ming Dao University (Taiwan), and Wehenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science (Germany). After establishment, UNTA opens for registration of new members.

UNTA members agree to collaborate to attain the following goals:

• To reinforce academic and research cooperation and collaboration among universities focused on tropical agricultural and related fields.
• To develop and strengthen the potentials of tropical agriculture to resolve food security, safety, sustainability and related issues.
• To promote faculty and student mobility and exchange among member universities and establish a mutual credit transfer system.
• To work towards developing new opportunities such as joint conferences, dual degrees, and joint degrees, enhancing scientific publication and creating new academic activities.
• To promote agriculture studies to attract high quality incoming students.
• To provide recommendations to policy makers with respect to agriculture related issues.
• Other appropriate activities not mentioned but within the scope of the mission agreed upon by UNTA members.

The permanent office of the secretariat will be established at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology with more detail information at http://unta.npust.edu.tw/.  The UNTA forum will rotate to a different university annually; the host university will be decided two years in advance.

           The UNTA 2013 meeting and seminar has been held from 3-4 September 2013 in Auditorium Andi Hakim Nasoetion, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Darmaga Campus, Bogor-Indonesia.  There are about 100 participants from UNTA members and non-UNTA members.  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Van Minh, Vice President of Thai Nguyen University and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen The Hung, Director of Science and International Office of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry have been participated in the meeting.  At the Meeting, Dr. Dang Van Minh had a presentation titled Climate Change – Adapted Sustainable Agriculture in the North Mountainous Region of Vietnam. The next UNTA meeting has been decided to be held at University Putra Malaysia in 2014 and Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam in 2015.

Meeting with Sriwijaya university

Thai Nguyen university delegation

Assoc. Prof. Nguyen The Hung

                                                                                                                                       Assoc. Prof. Nguyen The Hung