By LIU Hao and LONG Yun

The 3rd ASEAN Plus Three (10+3) Young Scientists Forum commences both online and on-site in Nanning on Sept 9. [PHOTO: CATTC]

Tanaporn Khotphat, deputy director of the Institute of Thai Studies at the International College of Guangxi University, believes young researchers from China and Thailand will play a critical part in future joint academic activities.

"I hope China and Thailand could benefit from win -win cooperation and common development. Chinese and Thai people are as close as one family, " said Khotphat，who was giving the keynote speech at the 3rd ASEAN Plus Three (10+3) Young Scientists Forum in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The forum has attracted many scientists from China, Japan, South Korea and other countries to conduct in-depth exchanges and find the best way to innovate and cooperate.

Faced with the dual challenges of the impact of COVID-19 and economic recovery, the challenge for China, Japan, South Korea and the ten ASEAN countries is how to jointly promote sustainable development - which may in turn be the key to solve current global problems.

Kyung -Ho Shin, the president of Commercializations Promotion Agency for R&D Outcomes (COMPA) noted that innovation-based cooperation with other countries is an essential element of any country that dreams of sustainable growth. Therefore, South Korea and ASEAN countries' companies can aim at the global market through working together.

Shin plays a leading role in the Nanjing Xiangu high-tech industry research institute cooperation program, aiming to build a platform for advanced and new technology transfer between China and South Korea, and to help the marketization of international scientific and technological achievements.

Since the formal launch of ASEAN Plus Three (10+3) cooperation, all parties have vigorously facilitated and deepened practical cooperation in various fields, including scientific and technological innovation, and made efforts to generate tangible results.

The China -Singapore International Joint Research Institute serves as an important technology collaboration platform, jointly set up by the South China University of Technology (SCUT) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore).

"We use technology to match the needs raised by ASEAN countries based on their own resource, which will lead to more efficient and precise technology transfer achievements," said the institute's chief scientist Yu Long.

Bui Thi Ooanh is from Vietnam, and has been working in the School of Physics and Electronics at Nanning Normal University for three years.

"All sustainable development strategies depend on science and technology," she said. In her opinion, to achieve sustainable development requires rational exploitation and utilization of resources, transformation of traditional industries, implementation of ecological construction projects and elimination of pollution. It is also important to improve the scientific and technological literacy of humankind and strengthen scientific and technological collaboration across the globe.

The 21st Century is the century of the oceans and the rich resources they contain are valuable assets to sustain the development of humanity.

The rational development and utilization of marine resources have become an inevitable development trend of all countries.

Yang Bo, deputy chief designer of Chinese deep -sea manned submersible Jiaolong, said the global efforts and deepening cooperation among young scientists are essential to achieve sustainable development of the ocean. In addition, the research on the manned submersible is a good chance to further international cooperation.

Arthur Ario Lelono from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences also called for concerted efforts to reach the goal of sustainable development. "Alone we can do so little and together we can do so much," he said.

Meanwhile an official from the Ministry of Science and Technology told the forum, "Our readiness is to work with all parties to build the forum into a long-term and stable platform for exchanges and cooperation among young scientists from China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN countries."