Saturday, April 28 – From the 24th to the 26th of April, the Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, attended the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) Confernce in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dr. Chen was accompanied by members of Sias' Office of International Relations.

The Conference was held at the National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia). The Chairperson of UMAP, and Vice Chancellor of the National University of Malaysia, Prof. Datuk Dr. Noor Azlan Ghazali, welcomed Sias International University into the UMAP, and said that he looked forward to working with Sias. The Deputy Secretary General of the UMAP International Secretariat, and professor and member of the Faculty of Global and Regional Studies at Toyo University, Shingo Ashizawa, gave the delegates at the conference a detailed introduction to Sias, and said that he hoped that Sias would aid the UMAP in the promotion of the internationalization of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region along with representative universities from other countries in the region.

The Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, spoke about Sias' educational philosophy and internationalization. He also invited the member schools and universities of the UMAP to take part in the 2nd AUAP Inter-University Basketball Competition that will be held at Sias from the 16th to the 24th of September, later this year. A number of universities at the conference expressed their desire to establish ties with Sias for cooperation and exchanges, particularly with regard to internationalization and internationalized education.

Sias International University joined the UMAP on the 27th of March, 2018. Through this, Sias has deepened its ties with universities in the Asia Pacific region, as well as promoted its image and educational philosophy. The resultant broadening of channels of international cooperation only serves to aid the continued internationalization at Sias.

The University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) was founded in 1991, and is a voluntary association of government and non-government representatives of the higher education sector. The general aim of UMAP is for each of the countries and territories in the Asia- Pacific region to achieve a better understanding of the cultural, economic and social systems of the other countries and territories in the region through enhanced cooperation among higher education institutions and increased mobility of university students and staff.