The Cebu Technological University made a strong impression at the QS Asia Pacific 2025 conference in Seoul, South Korea, last week. The event not only visibilized CTU’s presence in the region but also channelized its intentions with long-time and potential partners.
During the three-day conference, CTU met with a range of renowned allies, including UCSI University (within the world’s top 1% for four consecutive years), Universitas Airlangga, OP Jindal Global University, and Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation. A couple of activities have already been made with these partners since 2022.
CTU President Dr. Joseph Pepito acquaints with long-time ally UCSI University Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. Dato’ Dr. Toh Kian Kok.
It also engaged with top-tier Middle Eastern institutions, particularly King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), King Saud University (KSU), and Abu Dhabi University, ranked 1st, 4th and 11th in the QS Arab Region University Rankings 2026, respectively.
CTU Internationalization and ASEAN Integration Director Dr. Rhodora Magan, in a statement to ICPA, said that brushing elbows with these top-performing Arab universities gives CTU the perfect environment to calibrate its international campaign.
Of special note, KFUPM sidelined CTU with three dedicated sessions at the QS event, offering strategies to improve its regional and global presence—a gesture of exceptional collaboration and strategic alignment.
KFUPM representative Dr. Sadiq Sait Mohammed shares best global visibility practices with CTU.
KSU representatives promise to elevate the CTU_KSU agenda within the engineering and technology frameworks.
Abu Dhabi University (ADU) remains in ongoing discussions, reflecting CTU’s sustained interest in expanding its Middle Eastern academic footprint. It invited CTU to its event come December to concretize any plan for a long-standing relationship.
Initial talks had been previously established between Dr. Magan and ADU President Ghassan Aouad, which could potentially spur the plan to put CTU within ADU’s circle.
Dr. Magan shared that, in one of the breakout sessions at the QS event in Korea, she was able to contribute to the discussion with panel members from France and the U.S.A., analogizing an institutional partnership to marriage—that is, testing the waters first with a few small steps before ultimately deciding to formally close deals.
The university also made new conversations with Neoma Business School (France), George Washington University (GWU), Harvard Center Shanghai, City University of Hong Kong, Universidad Europea, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Hanoi Law University, and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
Significantly, Western HEIs were eyed to hopefully advertise CTU’s agency to host inbound students next year, Dr. Magan added. Not only for exchange programs but also for scholarships like Fulbright that require supervisorship of an American professor, which the potential partnership with GWU could provide.
CTU and Neoma Business School (France) representatives share a brief talk on how to best position the entrepreneurial agenda.
George Washington University representative welcomes the idea of a future dialog with CTU.
Prior talk, particularly, with AIT were advanced during the conference with AIT representative (leftmost), ensuring that partnership agreements with the Thai institution could be materialized promptly.
The conference also provided a venue for CTU to seal a mobility pact with Daffodil International University (DIU) in Bangladesh. DIU Founder and Chairman Dr. Md. Sabur Khan, whom CTU President Dr. Joseph Pepito had met on three previous occasions during gatherings at Korea University.
Following the QS Asia Pacific sessions in Seoul, Dr. Joseph Pepito, Dr. Ramel Genobiagon, and Dr. Rhodora Magan traveled to Busan to maximize the delegation’s stay, where Chaebol-owned Inje University welcomed them for a high-stakes negotiatory narrative.
CTU’s conference participation further stabilized its relationship with India’s top 1 private institution, OP Jindal Global University. Dr. Joseph Pepito’s meeting with Vice Chancellor Prof. Raj Kumar positioned the institutions on a robust partnership trajectory, with Dr. Pepito invited to an executive dialogue in India from November 17–19, further cementing strategic collaboration in higher education leadership and global research.
OP Jindal Global University Vice Chancellor Prof. Raj Kumar (4th from left), Daffodil International University Founder and Chairman Dr. Subar Khan (2nd from left) and Dr. Joseph Pepito interact for the first time, in a separate meeting [hosted by Prof. Kumar] outside the QS APAC 2025 venue on November 4th.
The QS Asia Pacific 2025 conference has, therefore, not only elevated CTU’s international posture across the Asia Pacific region, but also served as a launchpad for scholarly dealings, moving the university closer to its goal of being a premier academic institution in Southeast Asia./Internationalization and ASEAN Integration