THE Fiji National University is exploring opportunities for collaboration with the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
The development comes after FNU vice-chancellor Dr Ganesh Chand visited SEARCA director Dr Gil C Saguiguit Jr this week.
At his meeting with Dr Saguiguit, Dr Chand said FNU was interested in human resource development in key areas in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and related fields.
Dr Chand said there were many opportunities for consulting projects in Fiji but they needed partners and experts in tendering bids.
Dr Saguiguit said although Fiji was not affiliated with SEARCA's mother organisation, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), the centre could still help bring Southeast Asian expertise to Fiji.
Dr Saguiguit said this could be done through development initiatives related to agriculture, in the form of scholarships, institutional development assistance and research in common areas of interest.
"This is very encouraging because these are the kinds of windows of collaboration that we are thinking of," Dr Chand said.