Kathmandu, Kartik 17: Officials of Tribhuvan University (TU) held a courtesy meeting with Prof. Dr. Kaori Hayashi, Executive Vice President of The University of Tokyo, Japan, and a professor at its Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies. The meeting took place at the Office of the Vice-Chancellor in Kirtipur. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Bhola Thapa welcomed Prof. Hayashi to TU and expressed hope of strengthening the academic ties between Nepal and Japan and raising their quality. He said TU gives high priority to internationalization. Its priorities include formal relations with leading universities worldwide, the exchange of academic resources, and stronger research and academic collaboration. They also include exchanges of faculty, staff and students to share experience, joint research projects, and the establishment of joint degree programs.

Prof. Hayashi said the University of Tokyo is interested in collaborating with TU in agriculture and veterinary science, engineering, climate science, and natural disaster management. After a detailed study of the areas of cooperation raised in the meeting, the two institutions will sign a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through TU’s International Relations Centre.Along with the Vice-Chancellor, TU was represented by Rector  Prof. Dr. Anjana Singh, Registrar Dr. Rabindra Sivakoti, Executive Director of Centre for International Relations Centre Prof. Dr. Vishnu Prasad Pandey, and Dr. Renuka Basnet, head of the Vice-Chancellor’s Office. Prof. Hayashi’s team from the University of Tokyo included Prof. Mitsuo Yamamato, Dr. Satuski Shioyama, and Yuhi Ota.