Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Marian Jocelyn R. Tirol-Ignacio explored potential areas of cooperation between Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Philippine higher education institutions with UBD Vice Chancellor Dr. Hazri bin Haji Kifle on 4 August 2022. Discussions focused on people-to-people exchanges, community outreach programs, research collaborations and cultural immersion initiatives in the fields of climate change management, biodiversity protection, maritime issues, gender and development, and cultural research.

Also present during the meeting was Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs Dr. Joyce Teo Siew Yean who highlighted the strong ties UBD has with leading universities in the Philippines as it has been sending Filipino scholars and researchers to Brunei since 2010 under its innovative “GenNEXT” curriculum.

Ambassador Tirol-Ignacio noted the contributions by resident Filipino professors and researchers to the university’s growth and development as well as by second generation Filipino-Bruneian students and alumni of UBD who are carving out a name for themselves across various fields in Brunei.

The meeting also looked into avenues to further encourage more Filipino students from the Philippines, as well as those based in Brunei who have completed secondary education in the Sultanate, to avail of the scholarships offered by the Brunei Government to study in UBD.

The meeting culminated with the donation of coffee table books on the Philippine Chairmanship of the ASEAN in 2017 entitled “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World: The Philippines’ Chairmanship of ASEAN’s Golden Year” and a Fiesta Filipinas Wagayway Festival Kit to UBD aimed at sharing knowledge and history on ASEAN and the Philippines.

UBD is a leading higher education institution in Brunei Darusslam. It was recently included in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings, placed 69th in the 2022 QS Asian University Rankings and garnered the 256th spot in the 2022 QS World University Rankings. END.