"The success story of Chinese higher education has inspired many developing countries and they embarked on a voyage of collaboration with China to improve the performance of their universities," highlighted Prof. Dr. Zahid Anwar, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Director of China Study Center, University of Peshawar (UoP) and a Chair-professorship of Yunnan University.

At the recent 3rd South and Southeast Asian University Presidents Forum held at Yunnan University, the vice chancellor noted that China's economic development has given hope to many developing countries. "Chinese institutions of higher education are playing a very important role in strengthening regional connectivity. In this connection Yunnan University, Kunming's leading step in the establishment of the South and Southeast Asian Universities Network proved to be a great leap forward," he stated.

The South-East Asian Universities Network organized this annual conference, which will greatly contribute to strengthening cooperation among member universities to collectively address the challenges of higher education in South-East Asian universities. He noted that UoP highly appreciates this initiative and will fully contribute to such efforts to empower the people of the less developed countries in the global south.