Gyeongsangbuk-do and Nara Prefecture pull out all the stops to cooperate on Korea-Japan talent development

【Financial News, Andong = Kim Jang-wook】 Gyeongsangbuk-do will make every effort to cooperate with Nara Prefecture on university-centered talent development. To that end, the province will keep the Korea-Japan University Exchange and Cooperation Team in operation on a permanent basis and hold an International Forum on Korea-Japan University Talent Cooperation.

From the 5th to the 8th, the province, Gyeongbuk Anchor Center and Yeungnam University’s Korea-Japan Future Talent Cooperation Center visited Nara Prefecture, Japan, and discussed ways to cooperate on developing future talent at Korean and Japanese universities with the Nara Prefectural Government and five local universities. The visit was prompted by the Korea-Japan Summit being held in Andong and the Nara governor’s visit to Gyeongsangbuk-do.
Lee Sang-su, director of the Local Government Strategy Bureau, said, “Following the Korea-Japan Summit in Andong, exchanges between local governments in the two countries have become more important than ever. This visit to Nara Prefecture is an important starting point for building an ecosystem for cooperation in global talent development, led by universities and supported by local governments.”
The delegation visited the Nara National University Organization (Nara Women’s University and Nara University of Education), the Nara Prefectural Government, Nara Prefectural University, Nara University and Tenri University in turn to discuss establishing a cooperative framework between universities in the two regions. They also discussed finding a partner university in Nara Prefecture to coordinate with Yeungnam University’s Korea-Japan Future Talent Cooperation Center, operating a standing video-conference council and identifying joint programs.
The province and Nara Prefecture also discussed tailored approaches to talent development that link each university’s areas of strength with educational and industrial resources.
The Korea-Japan University Exchange and Cooperation Team will operate on a permanent basis following this visit. The international forum will be held in Gyeongsangbuk-do for the first time, after which the two regional governments will take turns hosting it to strengthen talent exchanges and cooperation.
The director stressed, “We will actively work to connect universities in Nara Prefecture with local universities, including Yeungnam University’s Korea-Japan Future Talent Cooperation Center, and establish channels for cooperation, so that this can lead beyond people-to-people and academic exchanges to industry-academia-research collaboration in developing talent for strategic industries.”
Meanwhile, several universities in the province besides Yeungnam University have engaged with universities in Nara Prefecture through research, exchange student programs, seminars, special lectures and other activities.
The province plans to build on this and expand the system into one for global talent development involving more local universities.

[email protected] Kim Jang-wook Reporter