On the 8th of October until 9th of October 2014 ASEAN Graduate Business and Economics Programme (AGBEP) held its 14th Annual Meeting in Penang, Malaysia. Universiti Sains Malaysia has been appointed to host the annual meeting. It was fully supported by ASEAN University Network (AUN) and 12 AUN members; the meeting proceeded with 24 people participating and contributing. The 14th Annual Meeting is considered to be very crucial as AGBEP realize the need to expand its capacity, not only for graduate program, but also for undergraduate and doctoral programs. Thus, it was agreed in the meeting to change the network’s name into ASEAN University Network for Business and Economics (AUN-BE) and amend its statute.
There are two main topics being discussed on the annual meeting: one is the new statue (terms of agreement), and the other is the strategic plan of AGBEP in intensifying the benefits of the network to the members. Broke down into 3 series of discussion, the discussion of the first topic was very tight. All participants established major amendments regarding (1) objective, (2) outcomes, (3) membership, and (4) funding of the network. It was also agreed in the meeting that AGEBP be renamed and the new name of the network is ASEAN University Network for Business and Economics (AUN-BE). Moreover, the meeting also aimed at formulating a strategic roadmap for AUN-BE; the roadmap will then be used as the foundation for AUN-BE’s future programs and activities.
It was also agreed in the meeting that the network should form a steering committee. The steering committee will be responsible to determine AUN-BE’s strategic activities in the upcoming years. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Chulalongkorn University, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, University of the Philippines Diliman, National University of Singapore, and Universitas Gadjah Mada as the permanent secretariat were agreed to be the first steering committee of AUN-BE.