Home > News > AIT and PRMPU, Pakistan, sign MoU and discuss further collaboration
News

AIT and PRMPU, Pakistan, sign MoU and discuss further collaboration

08 Mar 2023
AIT webmaster

By Office of Public Affairs

March 8, 2023: The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Punjab Resource Management & Policy Unit (PRMPU), Government of Punjab, Pakistan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 8 March to enable cooperation for long-term and short-term training programs for civil service officers working in various departments of the Government of Punjab. 

The scope of the MoU includes enrolling officers in one-year Master’s degree programs and participating in the short-term and customized training programs offered by the three schools (School of Engineering and Technology, School of Environment, Resources and Development, and School of Management) and AIT Extension, as well as exposure visits to the staff of PRMPU and other departments. Previously, AIT and PRMPU signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for Training in June 2022.

Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, AIT President, stated that AIT and PRMPU have many areas of synergy and areas of collaboration, and the MoU is beneficial for both institutions, with anticipated expanding areas of collaboration.

Ms. Neelam Ifzal, Managing, Director, PRMPU, expressed joy over the successful training of PRMPU staff at AIT in August 2022 and said that they are exploring avenues for further collaboration and look forward to a strong and fruitful partnership. Ms. Ifzal was accompanied by Ms. Naima Rashid, Assistant Director of PRMPU. 

From AIT the event was attended by Prof. Shobhakar Dhakal, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Prof. Dieter Trau, Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology and Director of AIT Entrepreneurship Center; Dr. Yuosre Badir, Associate Dean of the School of Management; Mr. Voravate Chonlasin, Executive Director; Dr. Md. Zakir Hussain, Director (Programs); Ms. Narumon Wangnai, Director (Programs) from AIT Extension and Mr. Shawn Kelly, Executive Director; Dr. Sumana Shrestha, Director, International Affairs and Mr. Sanjeet Amatya, Director, Public Affairs from the Office of International and Public Affairs.

The delegates also met with the AIT Extension team and discussed future training programs. AIT Extension is currently conducting the second batch of the professional development training course on the Management and Implementation of Development Projects for PRMPU officials at AIT. The delegation also met with the Dean of the AIT School of Engineering and Technology (SET), Heads of Departments, and faculty members of SET and visited Structural Engineering and Water Engineering and Management labs. They also met the Associate Dean and AIT School of Management representative. Additionally, they also visited the Global Water & Sanitation Center and discussed the areas of collaboration. 

Punjab Resource Management & Policy Unit (PRMPU) is under the administrative control of the P&D Board, Government of Punjab. PRMPU has been mandated to revive the Public Sector Capacity Building initiatives through an approved scheme, ‘Institutional Strengthening of P&D Board and Capacity Building of Public Sector Employees. The program has been designed to enhance the technical capacity of officers of the Government of Punjab in demand-driven areas through a foreign and local short training. Capacity building of provincial officers has remained a core policy area in the reform agenda. To complement reform interventions and raise the absorptive capacity of the available human resource, numerous capacity-building initiatives have been introduced by PRMPU.