University Mobility in Asia and The Pacific - History

History

In 1991 the movement of University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) was initiated when Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee proposed and sponsored two conferences to promote the discussion on educational cooperation in Asia and the Pacific, inviting representatives of institutes of higher education from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The first meeting was held in April 1991 in Hong Kong and the second meeting was held in September 1991 in Canberra. During the second meeting, representatives of 18 countries and territories in the region agreed to establish themselves as a Reference Group, and this was termed the First Reference Group Meeting. Additional annual meetings were held between 1992 and 1996, at Seoul, Taipei, Osaka and Auckland. In the fourth meeting, participants called on Member governments to set up a central scholarship fund to encourage mobility in the region and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation started publicly supporting UMAP. In the last meeting held in 1996, the location of UMAP International Secretariat was discussed and decided to establish in Japan. In 2006, it was decided that the new location for the International Secretariat would change to Thailand.