Recounting her days as a student at the Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology (BUET), the Ambassador said that she
reminisced on the prestige enjoyed by AIT. “It was an aspiration of
BUET students to join AIT,” she remarked. It would be my privilege to
help raise the profile of a top Asian institute like the AIT in the
global discourse.
The Ambassador also proposed the establishment of “Country Chairs” at
AIT, stating that different countries could establish their respective
“Chairs” at the Institute.
Welcomed at AIT by its President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, the
Ambassador was accompanied by Md. Azizur Rahman, Counsellor, Embassy of
Bangladesh.
The Ambassador complimented the AIT President for his New Year message
to the community, where Prof. Worsak had described his attempts to
diversify AIT’s revenue stream. She made special mention of the AIT
Library Fundraising Campaign, where contributions have been solicited
from corporates, adding that she would encourage corporates to donate
towards the campaign.
Addressing students from Bangladesh, Ambassador Tasneem said that she
wanted more students from Bangladesh to join AIT. She also asked them
to “take AIT to Bangladesh” by returning to their home country and
contributing towards the nation’s development.
The Ambassador also delved on the proposed ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC), the post 2015 development discourse, IPCC report, the impact of
climate change on Bangladesh, advantages of Thailand vis-a-vis in AEC,
the contribution of Bangladesh in promoting mother languages,
International Mother Language Day, and the emergence of Asian countries
in the global spectrum.
Prof. Worsak thanked the Ambassador for her encouraging words, and
stated that AIT has long maintained its tradition of being an
independent international institute. He elaborated on AIT’s association
with Bangladesh, stating that besides three faculty and 11 staff
members, AIT boasts of 1060 alumni from Bangladesh. AIT has also
trained close to 4000 professionals from Bangladesh.
Apart from Prof. Worsak, AIT was represented by Prof. Sivanappan Kumar,
Vice President for Academic Affairs; Prof. C. Visvanathan and Dr.
Mokbul Morshed Ahmad of School of Environment, Resources and
Development (SERD); Prof. Pennung Warnitchai and Prof. Nitin Kumar
Tripathi of School of Engineering and Technology (SET); Dr. Jonathan
Shaw and Dr. Fazle Karim of AIT Extension; Mr. Zia Islam of School of
Management (SOM); Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe of Fundraising, and Alumni
Affairs Office; and Dr. Gabrielle Groves, and Ms. Sumana Shrestha of
External Relations and Communications Office (ERCO).
