The afternoon of July 7 witnessed the signing and opening ceremony for the agreement on the building of the Tianyou Railway Institute in Thailand by Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) in collaboration with Khon Kaen University (KKU).

YAO Faming, Vice President of SWJTU, signed a cooperation agreement with Charnchai, President of KKU. Thaneeya Naipinit, Vice  Governor of Khon Kaen Province, YANG Ning, Acting Consul-General of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Khon Kaen, heads from Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry, State Railway of Thailand, Dr. Nawarat Wara-Aswapati, Vice President for international affairs at KKU, CHEN Pei, Director of the Thailand branch of GREGC Architectural & Construction Engineering Co., Ltd, and ZHANG Jiazheng, Director of the Confucius Institute at KKU, were invited and attended the ceremony. MA Lei, Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges at SWJTU, Dr. Rachaphon Santiwarakorn, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of KKU, the Faculty’s management heads, and some teachers and student representatives were present at the ceremony.

At the unveiling and ribbon-cutting ceremony, Charnchai noted that Thailand as the Indo-China Peninsula’s regional hub links ASEAN nations, and, in the future, will connect China via the China-Thailand Railway. High-speed railway is the key to Thailand’s 4.0 economic policy and one of the strategic decisions in Changwat Khon Kaen’s planning to construct a transportation and import and export cargo center. KKU is committed to advancing the development of national high-speed railway. It is a great honor for KKU to collaborate with SWJTU in the efforts to innovate high-speed rail training programs and enhance academic interactions. The founding of the Tianyou Railway Institute in Thailand will undoubtedly support regional, industrial, and economic growth.

As stated by Yao, this year marks the 10th year since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed. With the combined efforts of all stakeholders over the last ten years, many blueprints have become a reality. Among them, the China-Thailand Railway is a “Belt and Road” cooperation construction project of paramount importance for the two countries, serving as a land shortcut for the opening-up of the nations on the Indo-China Peninsula, particularly between Thailand and China. The continuous progress of the “Belt and Road” Initiative will usher in greater chances to further the rapid growth of rail transit in the region.

Against such a backdrop, KKU-SWJTU Tianyou Railway Institute was founded and will play a significant role in Sino-Thai collaboration in talent cultivation and cultural exchanges. Yao also highlighted the motto of “Communion of Earth and Heaven, Beauty Shared Among All”, which represents the essence of oriental civilization. The KKU-SWJTU Tianyou Railway Institute will unfold a new chapter of win-win cooperation with the strong support of both Chinese and Thailand governments as well as people of both countries. Each university will inject new life into the educational exchanges between China and Thailand with the prestigious resources of their own.

Yang said that on the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road” initiative the China-Thailand Railway serves as a landmark project for the joint development of the “Belt and Road” between the two countries. The northeastern region of Thailand is vital to the China-Laos-Thailand Connection. With its unrivaled geographic advantage, Khon Kaen will facilitate regional cooperation. She hoped that the Institute would center on innovation and education, give impetus to international cooperation in railway engineering education, and provide educational assistance and opportunities for lifelong learning to local talents in Thailand and the Pan-Asian region so as to cultivate international interdisciplinary talents and future engineering elites in the field of international railways. The Institute is anticipated to create a new highland for high-speed rail talent education and to endow the concept of “China and Thailand are as close as one family” with a contemporary meaning.

Rachaphon mentioned in his address that the two parties have been keeping in close contact after signing the memorandum of understanding and collaborating on course development in 2021. Before the establishment and unveiling of the Tianyou Railway Institute, he led a team to visit China for collaborative courses, etc. According to him, the goal of Khon Kaen University’s Faculty of Engineering is to produce high-caliber graduates for the future global society, including top-notch graduates in the field of high-speed rail engineering in the era of digital information. The Institute will provide student employment opportunities in the cutthroat job market competition and increase employer acceptability.

It is expected that the two universities will engage in exchange visits and train students in railway transportation to fulfill the development demands of Thailand’s high-speed rail sector and to produce high-speed rail engineering graduates with knowledge, competence, quality, and potential.

The ceremony was covered by Khon Kaen media as well as Thailand’s state-level media. At Khon Kaen University, more than 200 students attended lectures entitled “Introduction to Southwest Jiaotong University and its Talent Training system” and “International Railway Talent Training Mission of Tianyou Railway Institute” given by MA Lei, Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges, and XIN Ling, Director of the General Office of Tianyou Railway Institute respectively.

Lecture on “Introduction to Southwest Jiaotong University and its Talent Training System” by MA Lei

Yao and his team also visited Chulalongkorn University and Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University while in Thailand, and held discussions with the leaders of organizations like Thailand Branch of China Railway International Co., Ltd. and Thailand Project Department of China Railway Design Cooperation.