In the midst of the Covid 19 outbreak that hit various countries in the world, Asia University, Taiwan, through the Taiwan Education Center in Indonesia, successfully held the first online Taiwanese education exhibition in Indonesia. The event was held at the Evergreen Hotel in Taichung City on June 20, 2020, and it was attended by representatives from 27 leading universities in Taiwan. This event aimed to promote high-quality Taiwan education, low tuition fees, industry-academic cooperation, diverse learning experiences, and a Muslim-friendly environment for prospective students from Indonesia. More than 1000 students registered as active participants.
As one of the strategic partners of Asia University, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta supported the event which was broadcast live on YouTube with twice the number of viewers who registered.
Andy Cheu-An Bi, General Director of International and Cross-Strait Education of the Taiwan Ministry of Education delivered his opening speech virtually, discussing the New Southbound Policy of the Taiwanese government, which is an initiative of the Taiwanese Government to enhance cooperation and student exchanges between Taiwan and 18 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australia. Andy stated that the number of students Indonesian students who aim to study in Taiwan is currently ranked 4th in Taiwan and is increasing rapidly every year. He hopes this event will increase the interest of Indonesian students to study in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government offers 37 Taiwanese government scholarships each year for Indonesian students to study in Taiwan.
The Rector of Asia University, Jeffrey J. P. Tsai, stated in his remarks that Asia University responded to this innovative breakthrough by holding an online education exhibition to ensure that international collaboration between Taiwanese universities and their partners in Indonesia continues to develop. With this online education exhibition, he hopes to make high quality but inexpensive Taiwan education more effectively available to all Indonesian students.
The Taiwan Education Exhibition is a routine activity organized by Asia Univ. through the Taiwan Education Center in Surabaya, under the auspices of the Taiwan Ministry of Education. This activity is usually held twice a year in several major cities in Indonesia, such as Semarang, Surabaya, Malang, Makassar, Jakarta, Medan, Bali, and in Yogyakarta with the University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. However, due to the current COVID-19 situation, this annual activity switched to an online exhibition. Although the event was held online, the enthusiasm of the participants matched those who met face-to-face. In fact, many participants were very enthusiastic and felt lucky with this online education exhibition, because this online exhibition reached a wider area in Indonesia.
27 Taiwanese universities, both public and private, took turns promoting their campus profiles, majors at universities, specialization in studies, requirements for application and scholarship opportunities. To attract more attendees, the organizing committee designed two door prize sessions for participants by giving various prizes ranging from cell phone accessories to scholarships for masters and doctoral degrees.
