Hu Yanhua, Chair of the School Committee of the School of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST); Wang Yixia, Academic Director of the school’s center for lifelong learning; and Li Antai, Director of the school’s international affairs office, visited the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Thailand and the Business School of the University of Canterbury (UC) in New Zealand from Aug 26 to Sept 2.

The delegation attended NIDA's 60th anniversary celebration and the 5th National and International Conference of NIDA (NIC-NIDA Conference) from Aug 27 to 30, where experts discussed governance challenges and pathways to sustainable development in the age of AI.

Hu Yanhua and the delegation members met with NIDA President Tippawan Lorsuwannarat and other university leaders to review the foundation of their cooperation since 2019 and hold in-depth discussions on research cooperation, student exchanges, and project cooperation.

Hu Yanhua also met with Anukal Chiralaksanakul, Dean of NIDA Business School, and other leaders to discuss deeper school-level cooperation. Discussions focused on degree program cooperation, short-term executive training, student exchanges, and faculty research cooperation, with the two sides reaching a preliminary agreement on cooperation in short-term executive training programs.

The delegation then visited UC Business School, the only business school in New Zealand’s South Island to hold the three major international accreditations of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), and the Association of MBAs (AMBA), from Aug 31 to Sept 2, where Dean Paul Ballantine, Director of the Master of Business Administration Programme Ekant Veer, and other representatives participated in discussions.

The two sides discussed student exchange programs, two-way short-term executive education programs, and faculty research exchanges, reaching a preliminary cooperation agreement on two-way short-term executive programs.

The delegation also visited the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury (CIUC), jointly established by HUST and UC in 2009 and the first Confucius Institute on New Zealand’s South Island. Zhang Yingjie, the institute’s director, introduced its operations and development, while Hu Yanhua introduced the outcomes of the discussions with UC Business School. The two sides held in-depth discussions on how to continue advancing the implementation of these outcomes.

The visit was an important step in the School of Management’s implementation of the HUST Global Strategy 2030 and will help expand international partnerships, advance the internationalization of the school’s degree and executive education programs, and enhance its global influence.

Source: School of Management, HUST