April 25, 2022 from 16:00 p.m. at Sirikunakorn Room 5, 6th Floor, Sirikunakorn Building, Khon Kaen University – H.E. Ms. Orna Sagiv, the Ambassador of Israel to Thailand and the delegation from the Israel Embassy made an official visit to Khon Kaen University. On this occasion, Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University gave a welcoming address. Among KKU welcoming administrators were Assoc. Prof. Nawarat Wara-Aswapati Charoen, Ph.D., Vice President for International Affairs; Asst. Prof. Acharawan To-Pharkngarm, Ph.D., Assistant to the President for International Affairs; Deans and representatives from the Faculties of Agriculture, Dentistry, Engineering, Business Administration and Accountancy, Pharmaceutical Science, Sciences, Director of the International Division, and some lecturers. Discussions were made at the meeting on collaboration in science and technologies, industries, medicine, pharmacology, information and communication technologies, and other collaborations to take place in the future.
Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University said in his welcoming speech that the relationship between Khon Kaen University and Israel is strong, with research collaboration that has been performed together for a long time. There is collaboration in different fields with the Faculty of Agriculture, such as the Thai-Israel Techno-Demonstration unit for irrigating high-value crops and the Agricultural Demonstration Farm. These two projects led to the MOU signing between Israel and KKU in 2002.
In addition, Khon Kaen University has entered collaboration in other fields with Israel. For instance, in 2018, the former Ambassador of Israel to Thailand came to KKU at the opening ceremony of the“Small Irrigation International Training Course”, the project that was aimed at promoting the efficiency of water resource management in arid areas in Thailand. In 2020, the former Israel Ambassador also came to Khon Kaen and presided over the opening ceremony of the Hybrid Greenhouse, a collaborated project between KKU and MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. This project was aimed at supporting the development and solution of the problem related to limitation of household clean water consumption and agricultural water use in the Northeast of Thailand. The project was a prototype for learning and transferring of knowledge to the Faculty of Agriculture and the Isan Region. This visit of the delegation from the Embassy of Israel is a good chance in exchanging information and discussing future collaborations.
H.E. Ms. Orna Sagiv, the Ambassador of Israel to Thailand said, “I and the representatives from the Israel Embassy are happy and honored to make this visit to Khon Kaen University, which is my first time. I’m grateful to all of the KKU administrators who give us such a warm welcome.”
The Ambassador of Israel to Thailand then attended a special talk on “KKU Smart City & Smart Farm”, a talk that featured 3 sub-topics of: 1) Digital University, by Asst. Prof. Denpong Soodphakdee, Ph.D., Vice President for Digital; 2) Smart City of SCOPC, by Asst. Prof. Rawee Hanpachoen, Ph.D., from the Faculty of Architecture; and Ajarn Suradech Taweesaengsakulchai, from the College of Local Administration. The next part was a visit to KKU Smart Farm Project of Khon Kaen University.
News: International Division, Khon Kaen University / Prawsaeng Phusingha
Photos: Udomchai Supannawong
