Kansai Gaidai and Sansuisha Co. Ltd., a mid-size paint manufacturer (headquartered is in Sakai, Osaka), agreed to offer scholarships to students from Thailand. Dr.Eiko Tanimoto, the President of the Board of Trustees, and Mr. Yutaka Kashoji, the Vice President of Sansuisha, signed the agreement at the Nakamiya campus on February 3. The effective period of the agreement is for ten years from February 1, 2011.

According to the agreement, students from Thailand will transfer in their 3rd year to Kansai Gaidai under the dual degree program of the ASEAN Plus Three: University Consortium. Sansuisha will extend the scholarship of 600,000 yen a year per person for two years until his/her graduation. Each year, one student will be chosen from Bangkok University, a member of the ASEAN Plus Three: University Consortium.

Sansuisha started operations in Thailand and securing educated staff members is an issue. Therefore, they were interested in the Consortium project. In the Consortium project at Kansai Gaidai, students study in both English and Japanese. Sansusha made the decision to offer the scholarship with the intention to secure bilingual and bicultural employees.

In the ceremony, Dr. Eiko Tanimoto stated, “The ASEAN Plus Three: University consortium was established to stimulate young people in Asia. Thanks to Sansuisha, we are expecting to receive excellent students from Thailand.” Mr. Kashoji is also considering accepting Kansai Gaidai students as interns in the facility in Thailand and said, “We would like to continue to have good relationship with Kansai Gaidai”