Korea’s Inje University and the Lao University of Health Sciences (UHS) hosted an MOU Agreement Commemoration Webinar on 17 June.

The two Universities have signed the MOU on the Leading University Project for International Cooperation (LUPIC) supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRFK) under the Korean Ministry of Education.

The webinar was attended by more than 60 invitees, including Dr.Bounthom Samountry, President of University of Health Sciences, Mr.Minhyon Jeon, President of Inje University, Mr.Thieng Boupha, Ambassador of Lao PDR to the Republic of Korea, Mr.Moohong Lim, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Lao PDR, Mr.Hwayoung Ahn, Director for International Affairs of NRFK, Mr.Sooil Kim, Secretary-General of Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO) to celebrate the signing of the MOU between the two universities.

Given the situation where in-person interactions between the two countries are restricted due to the COVID19 pandemic, the Webinar was held online via Zoom and live-streamed on Youtube.

In particular, the Webinar has become a more meaningful place of exchange with the presence of key stakeholders from UHS and the Lao Ministry of Health, including the Ambassadors of both countries.

The webinar begun with welcoming remarks by President Jeon and a congratulatory speech by President Samountry, followed by Speeches by the Ambassadors. Ambassador Lim said, “Korea’s New Southern Policy Plus(NSPP) has been recently focused on the Healthcare and Education sectors. In that sense, the LUPIC Project is strongly alined with NSPP.”, wishing a successful implementation of the Project. Ambassdor Boupha also gave a speech on ‘Healthcare Cooperation and Development’, saying “We hope that the signing of the MOU will serve as an opportunity to increase mutual cooperation not only in the healthcare sector, but also in various sectors between University of Health Sicences and Inje University”. Other speeches were followed on ‘Cooperation in the field of healthcare education in the LUPIUC Project’ by Director Ahn, ‘Role of University and International Exchange between cities’ by Secretary General Kim, ’Introduction of the LUPIC Project’ by Project Manager Oh, and ‘Introduction of UHS & Faculty of Nursing Sciences (FONS)’ by Dean Phanpaseuth of FONS

President Samountry mentioned during his speech, “Beyond exchanges at the university level, University of Health Sciecnes will make collaborative efforts to cement diplomatic ties between the two countries and pursue sustainable development in Lao PDR.”

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the University of Health Sciences for actively participating in the LUPIC Project with a strong sense of ownership and partnership in an unprecedented COVID19 situation across the world.”, Project Manager Jina Oh said during the closing session. She added, “it was such a meaningful time where the two universities were able to strengthen cooperation and discuss the mutual improvement of nursing education.”

Inje University previously carried out a LUPIC Project, a capacity building project in the field of higher education, in Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2019 and successfully established a first four-year Bachelor of Nursing degree program at Colombo University by reforming the nursing education system of Sri Lanka.

After a successful completion of the Sri Lanka Project, Inje University has become the first in Korea to be selected for the Expansion Type of the LUPIC Project.

Youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1c8DX1NQDA