<<October 7, 1999>>

Dr. Marco Antonio R. Dias <mardias@club-internet.fr>

Alexandre Rivas, Ph.D. <alex_mau@argo.com.br>

John C. Afele, Ph.D <jafele@plant.uoguelph.ca>

(1) Dear Marco:
===========

Many, many thanks for your wonderful msg (ATTACHMENT I).

I greatly thank you for your time spending for our project in spite of a
very hectic traveling schedule around the world. Your introduction to
UNAMAZ will certainly open up a prospective future for our South
American operation. I shall wait for your next msg.

(2) Dear Alex:
==========

As soon as you receive Marco's msg next week, pls incorporate it into
the draft of your pilot project proposal in the InfoDev format and send it
to me at your earliest convenience. Tapio is now getting anxious about
the submission of our final report to the InfoDev in which we have to
include the drafts of yours and others.

Pls feel free to ask me if you need any further info from me for your
mtg with Dr. Seixas Lourenｷo, President Emeritus of UNAMAZ.

(3) Dear John:
==========

Many thanks for the first draft of your proposal which I received today.

I browsed it this evening, and agree with you that you would need to
condense it much further, focusing on a few items.

I shall wait to receive your next version next week. Thanks.

Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I

Date: Tue, 05 Oct 1999 10:01:58 +0200
From: Marco Antonio Dias <mardias@club-internet.fr>
To: utsumi@www.friends-partners.org, Tapio Varis <tapio.varis@uta.fi>
Subject: AMAZONIA

Dear Dr. Utsumi and Tapio Varis,

Attached, you can find a copy of my "plan of action" for this year. It is
written in French, but there is no problem of understanding.

You will understand why I had doubts in Tampere about the kind and generous
proposal you addressed to me during the Tampere meeting. I just came back once
again from Brazil and tomorrow I am going to Cincinatti to open another
international conference, in which there will be representatives from more
than 30 countries. Today, I am invited for discussion with experts in charge
of an external evaluation of UNESCO's UNITWIN programme.

During my trip to Brazil, I benefited from a journey of travel and read the
majority of long messages from Dr. Utsumi. Next week, when I come back I
intend to address you a note with some comments and proposals. I intend also to
discuss with you what real contribution I can give to your extraordinary
project. Please, be patient until next week.

For the moment, I would like to tell you that during my presence in Brasilia
last week where I opened a forum of the Brazilian Rectors Conference, I had
important and useful contacts to the project in Latin America and in
particular in Amazonia. Alex Rivas with whom I had two long discussions by
telephone will probably tell you about this.

In synthesis, the main discussions took place with Professor Seixas Lourenｷo,
emmeritus president of UNAMAZ, with one of the vice-presidents of this
organization and with his secretary-general. Concrete measures are being taken
and were reinforced to restructure UNAMAZ; a general conference will take
p;lace in Columbia next February; a new president will be elected and the
plans of the organization revised. There is a great motivation amongst the
participants in the eight Amazonian countries. I am invited to make one of the
key speeches in this meeting. I decided to reduce my participation in
meetings next year, but I did accept this invitation for evident reasons.

Dr. Seixas Lourenｷo and others are very interested in the proposed Global
University System Structure. He is directly linked with the minister in charge
of Science and Technology in Brazil, and he will meet Alex Rivas in Manaus very
soon to discuss this subject and the participation of UNAMAZ in it. I don't
think there is need for more details at this moment, but I am convinced that
there are good prospects. Conceptually, UNAMAZ projects are always based in
principles I exposed in my paper presented in Tampere.

One detail, Tapio, is that Nokia has established a strong partnership with
Gradiente, one traditional and powerfull Brazilian company in the field of
production of equipment for telecommunications. Its legal base is in Sao
Paulo, I think, but the most important factory is in Manaus. Naturally, Nokia
should be interested in concrete action (with a clear multiplier effect) in the
eight Amazonian countries.

Best wishes and let us discuss this further next week.

Marco Antonio
****************************************
List of Distribution

Dr. Marco Antonio R. Dias
Vice President, Global University System
Consultant of United Nations University
Former Director, Division of Higher Education of UNESCO
36, Rue Ernest Renan
92.190 Meudon
FRANCE
Tel: +33-1-45 34 3509
Fax: +33-1-45 34 3509
mardias@club-internet.fr
m.dias@unesco.org

Alexandre Rivas, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Director of the Center for Environmental Sciences
University of Amazonas - Brazil
C.P. 4208, Manaus 69053-140
BRAZIL
+55-92-635 32 33
+55-92-644 23 22
Fax: +55-92-644 23 84
alex_mau@argo.com.br
http://www.argo.com.br/~alex_mau/alex.htm

John C. Afele, Ph.D
Director
International Program for Africa
Department of Plant Agriculture
Ontario Agricultural College
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
Tel: +1-519-824-4120 ext 3934
Fax: +1-519-763-8933
Email: jafele@plant.uoguelph.ca
jafele@uoguelph.ca
Chair, Grants & Research Committe,
Ghana Computer Literacy and
Distance Education project < http://www.ghaclad.org >
Member of Africa TeleHealth Consorutium
< http://ccen.uccb.ns.ca/nairobi >
Member, IT for Development Working Group
Council for Tropical and Sub-Tropical
Agriculture, Germany < http://www.dainet.de/gil >
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, GLOSAS/USA *
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.) *
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education *
* Founder of CAADE *
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education) *
* President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and Coordination of *
* Global University System (GUS) *
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A. *
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer email) *
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676 *
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/ *
**********************************************************************

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