The ASEAN Committee in Canberra met with the Group of Eight

On 16 March 2022, HE Ms Busadee Santipitaks, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, joined the ASEAN Heads of Mission, led by HE Mr Zakaria Ahmad, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam and Chair of the ASEAN Committee in Canberra (ACC), in a meeting with Group of Eight Board Members, led by Professor Margaret Gardner AC, Chair of the Group of Eight and President and Vice Chancellor of Monash University.  Both sides reiterated the importance of education and research in advancing economic development, and recognising it as an important pillar of ASEAN-Australia people-to-people links.  The ACC and Go8 agreed to explore ways to boost existing research and education collaboration to navigate challenges of the post-COVID-19 era as well as strengthen ASEAN-Australia relations.  The meeting also issued a joint press release.

Members of the Go8 comprise Monash University, Australian National University, University of Adelaide, University of Queensland, University of Melbourne, UNSW Sydney, University of Sydney and University of Western Australia.