Officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) met on April 17, 2017 for a ceremonial launching of the two institutions’ recently-signed Knowledge Partnership Agreement (KPA).
Representatives of UP led by President Danilo L. Concepcion and Chancellor Michael L. Tan hosted their counterparts from the ADB led by Vice President for Knowledge Management Mr. Bambang Susantono at Board of Regents Room at Quezon Hall in UP Diliman. Dean Maria Fe V. Mendoza, meanwhile, led the delegation from the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG).
The KPA aims to, among others, “combine the knowledge expertise of UP-NCPAG and ADB’s practical knowledge from its operation to enable both parties to come up with more innovative and sustainable knowledge solutions that promote easier and faster sharing of Philippine development experiences and lessons.”
The agreement also states that the parties will pursue “the common objective of improving governance and public sector management in the Philippines and in the region through sharing and exchanging knowledge and contributing to the search for practical and sustainable knowledge solutions.”
Under the agreement, NCPAG, in partnership with the ADB’s Governance Technical Working Group, will train a select group from the Philippines on governance and public sector reforms.
Another provision of the agreement is the appointment of experts from ADB as research fellows and adjunct professors of NCPAG.
Dean Mendoza stressed that the KPA is significant and promising because “ADB and UP entered into a partnership in an institutional capacity,” which is unlike in previous cases where experts and faculty from the university serve as consultants to ADB projects in an individual capacity.
The KPA, which was signed on January 30, 2017 will be in effect until December 30, 2019.