NPUST’s achievements in agricultural technology development and talent cultivation are world renowned. Recognizing her competencies in these areas, Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have lent their support to NPUST to hold the ” Intensive Training Course for African Elites “. To mark the beginning of the project the Opening Ceremony was held on July 3rd at 10:00 am at the third conference hall in the Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei. A number of delegates including Director General Dr. Yu-hui Yang, Department of Technological and Vocational Education, Ministry of Education. Consul General on Home Assignment Mr. Chi-Wen Wang, Department of Asian and African Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Director-General Chia-Rong Lin, Department of International Affairs, Council of Agriculture, Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Stephen J. H. Lee, International Cooperation and Development Fund, and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology President Chin-Lung Chang represented Taiwan at the Opening Ceremony.
Counsellor Mrs. Nontokozo Shongwe-Tsebedze from Embassy of the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Representative Dr. Mohamed Omar H. Mohamoud from Republic of Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan were also present for the occasion and were joined by the 25 students from Africa who traveled to Taiwan to participate in the training program. During the Ceremony, the Council of Agriculture and the ICDF delivered keynote speeches on ” Overview of Agricultural Cooperation between Taiwan and Africa ” and ” TaiwanICDF Operations and Projects in Africa “, introducing everyone to Taiwan’s experiences with African partners.
Director General Dr. Yu-hui Yang welcomed the 25 students from Eswatini, South Africa, Somaliland, and Nigeria to Taiwan in her address, pointing out how the program offered by NPUST “focuses on friendly agriculture and animal husbandry technology training, and cooperates directly with industry professionals to provide instruction. Participants will take part in observations and exchanges with agricultural and animal industries in Taiwan to strengthen basic knowledge in the field, improve practical operation capabilities, and develop an understanding of Taiwan’s current agricultural sector.”
Consul General Chi-wen Wang said “I am very grateful to the Ministry of Education and the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology for jointly planning this training course. Taiwan and African have enjoy a very long-standing friendship based on agricultural cooperation—we hoped that after these three weeks of training, the students will return to their home countries with a very rich harvest.”
NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang said “I would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education for their support, as well as all the ambassadors and representatives stationed in Taiwan and abroad for their efforts on this program. The training course can be carried out smoothly because of the assistance they have provided. I would also like to welcome African students from afar who have travelled to Taiwan to participate in the training. I hope that everyone will be able to learn a lot and acquire a great deal professional agricultural knowledge and skills.”
In the early years, NPUST participated in a national diplomatic program to help ally countries in the African region improve their agricultural technology, successfully reclaimed wasteland and plant rice. In addition to improving agricultural production technology, teams of teachers and students who worked in Africa assisted local R&D on various agricultural machinery to help increase output value. Their achievements laid the foundation for NPUST’s agricultural diplomacy in Africa.
At the present time, NPUST has aligned itself with international trends in sustainable development to establish this advanced training course and provide students with a solid scientific and technological foundation. They have invite industry professionals to share on current trends in the international agricultural industry and will combined on-campus exercises with off-campus industry visits so that students can enrich their knowledge and theory while also strengthening their technical capabilities through hands-on operations. In the last week of the course, a seminar will be held to summarize the essence of the course, and help students distill the practical “Taiwan experience” they had through discussions between teachers and classmates. After returning to their home country, the students will be able to quickly connect with local industries. The exchange will also help Taiwanese and African manufacturers to get in touch with each other—and after understanding each other’s needs, they will have more opportunities to customize products, materials, and machinery. In this way, Taiwanese businesses will be able to expand foreign trade and African farmers will be able to receive direct technical advice from Taiwan—thus benefiting both parties, and creating a big harvest for everyone.
