Lunghwa University of Science and Technology actively promotes educational exchanges with countries in the New Southbound Policy. In recent years, the number of international students has grown significantly. On March 21, 2024, distinguished guests from Surat Thani Province, the ASEAN Trade Association, and the Lions International visited the teaching and practical facilities at Lunghwa. They were deeply impressed by Lunghwa’s efforts to enhance students’ professional and practical skills and competitiveness in the workplace.

Additionally, on March 28, the former representative of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office and the leaders of the overseas community, including Ms. Xiu-Min Guo, Vice Chair of the Overseas Compatriot Culture and Education Foundation, accompanied by Lunghwa Chairman Tao-Heng Sun, visited the school to learn about the study and living conditions of Thai students. They also had a friendly discussion with Thai students in the Department of Semiconductor Engineering and those in the two-year Electrical Engineering Program. They encouraged them to strive for professional knowledge and the skills needed for internships to build their future employability.

During the welcoming speech to the visiting delegation, President Tzu-Hsiang Ko expressed that the university has been actively promoting industry-academia cooperation for many years. The university is focused on meeting industry demands with three production-line-like practical bases subsidized by the Ministry of Education totaling over US$10.7 million (NT$300 million), along with characteristic facilities such as semiconductor component processing and packaging testing laboratories.

To expand Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy” in education overseas and cultivate high-quality, practical talents, Lunghwa University signed a memorandum of understanding with seven renowned high schools in Thailand two years ago. Together, they are fostering Chinese Thai high school graduates to enroll in a two-year associate degree for the Overseas Youth Technical Training Program at Lunghwa to learn high-tech industry expertise and gain overseas work experience, enhancing bilateral education and industry talent exchanges between Taiwan and Thailand.

Last year, Lunghwa University embarked on a significant collaboration with Chulalongkorn University, the premier university in Thailand. This partnership promotes a joint semiconductor bachelor’s degree program, facilitating substantial exchanges such as degree-seeking students, exchange students, and overseas internships. In the current semester, nearly 20 exchange students from Chulalongkorn University are studying in the Department of Semiconductor Engineering, learning professional semiconductor technology and practical skills.

President Ko emphasized that in the 2023 academic year, over 2,000 international students have enrolled at Lunghwa University, with Thai students experiencing exceptionally high growth rates. The practical talents cultivated by the university are gaining recognition internationally, with increasing numbers of visitors from enterprises and academic groups in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, India, Vietnam, and Malaysia visiting the university to discuss industry-academia cooperation.