On Thursday, February 22, the opening ceremony for the Osaka University ASEAN Campus Office was held in Brunei Darussalam, with 7 individuals from Osaka University in attendance, including Executive Vice President KAWAHARA Genta. Also in attendance was H.E. Ambassador Motohiko KATO of the Embassy of Japan in Brunei Darussalam, who gave a congratulatory address in which he offered his hope for further strengthening of cooperative relationship in education and research between Brunei and Japan with the opening of this office.

On Friday, July 27, the opening ceremony of Osaka University’s ASEAN Campus was held at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia. Fourteen individuals were in attendance from Osaka University, including Executive Vice President KAWAHARA Genta and Graduate School of Engineering Dean TANAKA Toshihiro.Minister NAKAMURA Makoto of the Embassy of Japan in Indonesia gave a congratulatory address, expressing his hope that the establishment of this ASEAN Campus will promote exchange between the younger generations and produce talented human resources that can contribute to the problems facing ASEAN nations. Through the establishment of this campus, it is hoped that Osaka University will build a strong collaboration system with Bandung Institute of Technology in order to further expand education and research.

On Monday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 7, three universities from Brunei Darussalam, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, visited Osaka University, and a signing ceremony for an inter-university agreement with University of Technology Brunei was held along with the 2nd Joint Symposium. The three universities that visited Osaka University on this occasion are all universities with which OU aims to strengthen collaboration under the Osaka University ASEAN Campus Concept. In February 2018, OU established the Osaka University ASEAN Campus Brunei Office, which has performed various exchange activities, such as holding the 1st Joint Symposium. Osaka University has signed inter-university agreements with Universiti Brunei Darussalam in June 2017, with Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University in October 2017, and with Universiti Teknologi Brunei during this visit. Eight individuals from Osaka University were in attendance at the signing ceremony including President NISHIO Shojiro, Executive Vice President KAWAHARA Genta, Director of the Center for Global Initiatives HIRATA Kazumasa, and 11 were in attendance from Brunei Darussalam including Vice-Chancellor Hajah Zohrah of University of Technology Brunei, Dean Lim Lee Hoon of the School of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and Associate Professor Nurdeng Deuraseh of Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University. The signing ceremony was pleasant from start to finish, reaffirming the importance of cooperation between the two universities. In addition, on Tuesday, August 7, a Joint Symposium was held, with research presentations by researchers on 3 topics and a discussion on the future of education and research cooperation on the ASEAN Campus.

On Friday, September 14, President Chau Van Minh of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology made a courtesy call to OU President NISHIO Shojiro. Since concluded an inter-university exchange agreement with VAST in 2012, the two universities have seen active coordination in research exchange, particularly in materials science, photonics, laser engineering, and environmental technology. President Nishio was presented with an insignia from VAST for the promotion of collaboration in research and education across various fields and areas of expertise.