Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand visited UCAS on the afternoon of April 7, attending the Ceremony for Renewing the Memorandum of Understanding for the UCAS-Royal Thai Government Scholarship. It was her fifth visit to UCAS. Prof. Bai Chunli, President of CAS and Honorary President of UCAS, met with her.
Prof. Bai welcomed Princess Sirindhorn and showed his deep appreciation for her constant efforts to support the scientific and educational cooperation between China and Thailand. He said that CAS greatly valued the cooperation with Thailand’s scientific institutions and had signed a series of agreements with Thai universities, institutes and research foundations recently. He hoped that both sides will continue to deepen such cooperation after her visit.
Prof. Bai introduced the CAS-TWAS President's Fellowship which was funded to promote scientific and technological cooperation. There are about 40 Thai students sponsored by different scholarships studying at UCAS. He recommended organizing international summer schools for Thai professors and students in order to increase their understanding of UCAS.
He also introduced the Innovation Cooperation Center construction project (Bangkok), CAS.
Prof. Bai hoped that Princess Sirindhorn would continue to support the cooperation between China and Thailand and the collaborations between both sides would be fruitful.
Princess Sirindhorn said during her first visit that she thought there was huge potential in the cooperation between Thai scientific institutions and CAS. She added that for this reason she led a lot of Thailand professors and senior administrative staff every time she visited UCAS. After signing the contracts, Thailand started to send graduate students to study at UCAS. She hoped to carry out undergraduates exchange programs quickly.
After the meeting, Prof. Bai and Princess Sirindhorn witnessed the Ceremony for Renewing the Memorandum of Understanding for the UCAS-Royal Thai Government Scholarship.
In addition, Princess Sirindhorn met with some Thai recipients of the UCAS-Royal Thai Government Scholarship who are studying in China.
Prof. Ding Zhongli, Vice President of CAS and President of UCAS, Prof. Wu Yueliang, Vice President of UCAS and Cao Dianwen, Deputy Director of Bureau of International Cooperation, CAS were present. His Excellency, Piriya Khempon, Thai Ambassador to China, Pairash Thajchayapong, Secretary General of the National Science and Technology Development Agency Building, Thailand and Methini Thepmani, Secretary-General of the Office of the Civil Service Commission, Thailand, also attended.
Princess Sirindhorn is a member of the royal family of Thailand, the third child of former HM King Bhumibol and HM Queen Sirikit. She is currently Personal Secretary to King Bhumibol, Director of the Department of History at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy and Executive Vice President of the Thai Red Cross Society. As a respected statesman, a talented scholar, and a brilliant poet, Her Royal Highness is a messenger of friendship between Thailand and China.
The Memorandum of Understanding for the UCAS-Royal Thai Government Scholarship was first signed on April 3, 2008, to support Thai students studying at the Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GUCAS, the predecessor of UCAS) by establishing the “UCAS-- Royal Thai Government scholarship”. This is the third renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding, which will take effect in 2018 and extends through 2022. There are currently 25 Thai students enrolled at UCAS who are supported by the scholarship, in addition to10 former Thai recipients who have graduated.
