Virtual MoU Signing Ceremony on “Digital Agriculture for Rural Communities”

5 April 2023

On Wednesday, March 15th, 2023, Prof. Zhao Xiaomin, Ph.D., President of Jiangxi Agricultural University and Prof. Bundit Eua-arporn, Ph.D., President of Chulalongkorn University, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on “Digital Agriculture for Rural Communities” to establish a digital agriculture joint lab under the Chinese ‘Belt and Road’ cooperation via a virtual platform.

The ceremony was attended by honorary representatives of China and Thailand. Assoc. Prof. Pasit Lorterapong, Ph.D., Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation and Prof. Huang Lusheng, Ph.D., a member of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Secretary of the Party Committee of Jiangxi Agricultural University, delivered opening remarks.

After the signing session, Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, Deputy Minister of Education, presented a keynote speech and shared her insights about the collaborations under the MoU. At the close of the event, Mr. Lu Tianxi, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, provided a summary of the ceremony and potential collaborations between the two universities.

The ceremony was also attended by distinguished representatives of Jiangxi Provincial People’s Government, including Mr. Yan Bangyou, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology, and Mrs. Huang Xiaoyan, Deputy Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs, along with the Vice President of Jiangxi Agricultural University, Prof. He Haohua, Ph.D., and Prof. Liu Muhua, Ph.D.

Other dignitaries at this special included the Thai Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, the representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Chulalongkorn University administrators. Mr. Wiboon Waewbundit, the Governor of Nan Province, which is the site of the lab, was also presented at the ceremony on an online platform.