ANNEX III

Foreign Counterpart Endorsement

From:

To: "'Takeshi Utsumi'" <utsumi@columbia.edu>
Subject: RE: Your mtg with president of St. Luke
Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 06:12:23 +0800

Dear Tak -
Got your message. Yes, I was able to speak with the president of St. Luke's College of medicine and he is comfortable with the dates October 29, 30 and 31, 2000. He told me that I should speak with the president of St. Luke's Medical Center also. He is out of the country and will not be back in three weeks. Would you please write to both Dr. Arsenio C. Cantos, MD president of St. Luke's College of Medicine and to Mr. Jose Ledesma president and CEO of St. Luke's Medical Center informing them formally of the plan to hold a mini-conference here. They may have enough room in one of their conference rooms in the College of Medicine. We have internet byut I do not know about our ability to do telemedicine neither do we have ISDN. Butr you should write to them now. Their email address is - info@stluke.com.ph - and their web page is http://www.stluke.com.ph.

Gloria and I will be in the East Coast and we leave today to visit our children. I will try to reach you when you return from Manaus. We will be back here in the Philippines July 15. Good luck and I pray that we will be successful with this planned conference. My best to all at Bozeman when you go there.

Keep well always on this very important venture you are on. My email address while in the States will be - paeling@doctor,com. God bless you always Tak

With best wishes always, Ralph
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From:

Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 19:25:45 -0500 (EST)
From: Felix Librero <lex@laguna.net>
To: utsumi@www.friends-partners.org
Subject: Re: Inquiry about mini workshop in Manila

Dear Tak,

Thanks for the msg. Regarding a 3-4 day workshop in Manila next spring, I think that this might be possible. I haven't spoken with our colleagues at U.P. Manila, but I'm almost certain they would welcome this. Our group, the Faculty of Health Sciences (of UPOU) now based at U.P. Manila, shall have no problems with this, too, since they are all interested.

One thing that I have to consider, however, is that during the first week of March UPOU shall be hosting the 5th Meeting of the Regional Working GRoup on Satellite Communication Application under the auspices of UN-ESCAP. Then, in October, the UPOU shall be hosting the 14th Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities in Manila.

We can plan this out. I'll take this up with our group soon as I can. Meanwhile, let me know of the details whenever they are available.

Now, back to the AAOU Conference. I'm the Chair of the Paper Presentations Committee of the Conference and we have opened our invitations for paper presenters. May I invite you and others interested to present papers in the conference?

The theme of the Conference is: Open Learning and Distance Education: Ideology, Pedagogy and Technology. The Conference shall be from 25-27 October 2000. For more information, please visit the Conference website: aaou2000@laguna.net.

Our deadline for submission of a 300-word abstract is 29 February 2000. We shall act immediately on this proposal and will ask presenters to submit their full-length papers by 30 June 2000 so that we could immediately compile them on CD for distribution during conference registration.

Any takers? Please get in touch with me.
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From:

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 02:33:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Felix Librero <lex@laguna.net>
To: utsumi@www.friends-partners.org
Subject: Re: Respectfully requesting the dates of mini-workshop in

Dear Tak,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to get in touch earlier. The final schedule for the 5th Meeting of the Regional Working Group on Satellite Communication Applications, UNESCAP is 24-26 May 2000. This means that the mini-workshop may have to be held earlier, say March 2000.

I'm asking Dean Teresita Barcelo, Faculty of Health Sciences, UP Open University, to coordinate this mini-workshop with you. i have been unable to closely coordinate this given the other activities I have to attend to. However, i shall involve myself as much as I can in this undertaking. I shall also participate in the workshop. To the extent possible, my office shall provide the necessary assistance to Dean Barcelo.

I have earlier sopught a meeting with our colleagues at U.P. Manila, but we have so far been unable to get together due to difficulty in schedules. Dean Barcelo, however, will find it easier to get the people all together to discuss the details of the workshop since they all stay at UP Manila campus. I shall join them in their meetings.

Tak, please communicate with Dean Barcelo regarding this workshop. I shall appreciate, however, if you keep on sharing information with me as we proceed.

Warmest regards,

Lex Librero
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From:

From: "School for Distance Educaton, Manila" <sdemla@mozcom.com>
To: <utsumi@www.friends-partners.org>
Cc: <lex@laguna.net>, <artpesigan@yahoo.com>, <hermant@i-manila.com.ph>
Subject: GUS Project Mini-Workshop
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 11:45:22 +0800

Dear Dr. Utsumi:

Dr. Lex Librero of UPOU has forwarded to me your communications on the GUS Project Mini- Workshop to be held here in the Philippines. We are proposing the tentative dates to be on 29 31 March 2000. Please let us know if these dates are alright with you.

Thank you.

Dean Teresita Barcelo
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From:

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 09:39:47 +0800
From: msharma@mail.AsianDevBank.org (Motilal Sharma)
To: utsumi@www.friends-partners.org, worldview.sl@lankagn.apc.org
Subject: Distance Education (Regional cooperation)

Dr Utsumi/ Mr Fjortoft,

For your consideration.

Regards.

Moti


9 August 1999

My Dear Dr. Takashi Utsumi

Thank you very much for your message of 4 August 1999. I am very happy to know that preparations for Tempere Conference are progressing very well. My suggestions on strengthening distance education and use of electronic media and information technology in education as well as for peace development are as follows:

1. As you would know, the major open universities are in South and Southeast Asia. In India, there are about a dozen, and the number will increase in the near future. There is also one national open school providing services to large number of students throughout the country. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka – each have well-established universities. Sri Lanka is using distance education for technical education. Coming to Southeast Asia, Thailand’s STOU is a leading open university in Asia and the Pacific region. In addition, Thailand has another distance education through other universities. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines, likewise have distance education programs. On the other hand, Singapore has a very well-established computer and communications network covering all institutions and households. In Malaysia the development of the so-called "cyber corridor" is an encouraging development. Japan is a leading country in the area of electronics with well-established distance education institutions. At the same time, Peoples’ Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macao also operate open universities. On the other hand, Australia can also contribute to distance education because they have been using distance education for almost a century as one of the major strategies for education.

2. The Bank’s Regional Seminar on Distance Education in 1986 which was held at STOU brought together the distance education/open universities together to share their experiences. You must have already seen the two-volume proceedings and reports produced on the conference. One of the byproducts of this conference was the establishment of the Association of Asian Open Universities (AAOU) which meets annually. A major recommendation of the conference was the establishment of a regional mechanism for strengthening distance education in the Asia-Pacific countries. This was again repeated in a Round Table Conference on Distance Education for South Asian Countries organized in Pakistan in 1989. However, so far it has not taken off the ground and there is a need for a catalyst to make this concept a reality.

3 At the same time, the private sector and NGOs in Asia Pacific are rapidly entering the distance education field through dozens of private sector TV and radio channels, e.g., CNN, Sony, BBC, ZEE, etc. These have tremendous impact on the everyday lives of Asia’s vast population. But no institution or mechanism are involved in properly coordinating and maximizing their vast potential for peace development, functional literacy, poverty reduction, environmental protection, and gender issues.

GLOSAS/USA, under your inspiring and effective leadership, and the WorldView International Foundation (WIF), Sri Lanka (an international NGO), which has a network of country media centers in Asia and Pacific including Thailand and Malaysia can provide a forum in networking all distance education institutions/programs in Asia and the Pacific which will serve more than half the world’s population and the largest number of the planet’s youth and poor (900 million). This means that there is need to design and develop an implementable regional mechanism for effective networking among all distance education institutions using high-tech electronic media and information technology; and also involving the grassroots stakeholders. GLOSAS/USA can provide leadership in the use of high tech whereas WIF can provide assistance in designing strategies for involvement of grassroots using development communications based on electronic media.

There should be one global focal point which will be the GLOSAS/USA and WIF coalition, operating as one flagship institution, strategically located in a given country. Then operating from this flagship will be a number of subregional or satellite mechanisms such as in India (for South Asia), Thailand (for Indochina), Philippines/Malaysia (for Southeast Asia), Fiji (for Pacific Islands). The flagship and satellite mechanisms will undertake a number of tasks depending on the capability and reach of these institutions involved and the beneficiaries targeted in terms of media, instructional materials, quality control, standardization, certification, information technology, and management and governance system as well as financial operations.

These preliminary ideas can be further elaborated and operationalized to define the mechanisms and investment strategies.

The sharing of resources and expertise, as well as the utilization of media for networking, should also be a primary concern.

It is necessary to set up a small expert group which clear-cut terms of reference (TOR) and time schedule to develop a total feasibility study and investment plan for setting up the regional mechanism to strengthen distance education and lifelong learning in Asia and the Pacific. It is in this connection that I thought your good self and Mr. Arne Fjortoft, with your vast experience and connections, could meet and explore the possibility of jointly starting positive steps towards this concept.

Later, at the appropriate stage, you may then share a clearer proposal with multilateral and bilateral donors. I am confident that if a strong regional mechanism is established, it can optimize the use of existing institutions and will not require more capital investments. This will also help in improving the quality of distance education of which most of the institutions are suffering. It will further strengthen efficient educaiton services to the disadvantaged and poor especially those in rural areas, including women who have not been able to benefit from the fruits of development.

I think that you and Arne are spearheading a movement of the future; and it will be most opportune to seize the moment now, not tomorrow. I would be happy to assist in anyway you deem appropriate.
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