Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chusak Limsakul, PSU President, together with Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattara Aiyarak, Vice President for Organisational Relations and Information Management, and Mrs. Salma Kosumphant, Head of the PSU International Affairs Office, joined three official AUN meetings in Singapore from 28-31 July 2015. A total of 91 participants from ASEAN region and P.R. China attended the 4th ASEAN-China Rector’s Conference, while the 7th AUN Rector’s Meeting gathered 62 members, and 52 delegates joined the 31st AUN Board of Trustees Meeting. All three meetings were hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The 4th ASEAN-China Rector’s Conference titled “Bringing New Strategic Thinking to University Collaboration: Challenges for ASEAN-China Partnership” and held from 28-29 July, was opened by Prof. Tan Chorh Chuan, NUS President. Subsequently, the distinguished keynote speakers from the Chinese government reflected on the policy oriented towards ASEAN-China cooperation as identified by the ASEAN-China governments, and the strengthening of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.

During the 7th AUN Rector’s Meeting, held on 30 July 2015, the UKM proposal to establish a new thematic network, namely the AUN AEC Thematic Network, was accepted and the network secretariat will be the Institute of Malaysian & International Studies of UKM for the first three years, and then will be rotated to other AUN member universities. Other matters discussed during the meeting were the revision of the AUN Charter; the revision of the AUN-QA Guide Book and the new “Guide to AUN-QA Assessment at Programme Level” will be published in October 2015; as well as some existing and possible collaborative projects.

Throughout the 31st AUN Board of Trustees Meeting, held on 31 July 2015, the new Chairman of the AUN Board of Trustees, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Piniti Ratananukul, who is also the Secretary-General of the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Thailand, was introduced to all participating members, and the Annual Report: July 2014-June 2015 was presented, among other matters discussed.

Furthermore, all distinguished participants had the chance to tour the NUS campus and have a visit to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, one of the oldest such institutes in Southeast Asia.