Welcoming Address
(2009.3.9)

  On behalf of Yeungnam University, I would like to express my warmest welcome to all the participants in the 4th International Symposium on Textile Development in Asia and Africa.

Especially, my deepest thanks go to Prof. Mutsuo Takenaga, Vice‐President of Kyoto Institute of Technology, one of Yeungnam University’s global partners, and Prof. Yoshiharu Kimura, Chairman of this symposium. And it is my privilege to convey my sincere thanks to all the guest speakers from China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan.

 I am pleased to learn that Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) made a lot of strenuous efforts for this symposium such as obtaining a research grant from Japan Society of the Promotion of Science, inviting distinguished scholars in the area of textile development from all over the world. These efforts will provide us with a place for presenting advanced textile technology and making a world‐wide network with scholars and researchers in textile development. I am very confident that these dynamic, rewarding academic interchanges will lead us to reach the development of the textile industry in the years ahead.

 As you might be aware, the Daegu and Gyeongbuk areas have been a Mecca of the textile industry in Korea, and this industrial environment permitted Yeungnam establish the School of Textiles. We are also very proud that Yeungnam University has specialized the school to contribute to the development of the textile industry in Korea and Asia for the last 50 years. It is needless to say that without international academic collaboration and exchanges, any achievements in science and technology cannot be done. In this respect, this symposium will be a significantly meaningful momentum for a new leap forward for the textile development in the Asian and African regions.

 In order to materialize “Glocal Initiative” in the frame of international cooperation and elevating technology and science, Yeungnam University has been trying its best to promote and fully support a variety of international collaborative programs for the community and our global partners.

 I sincerely hope that the symposium will foster academic interchanges among all the participants, and I expect that all of you in this symposium will lead the textile industry in Asia and Africa so that it will become a major industry in the world.

 In closing, I would like to thank all of you for participating in this symposium, and I hope you will have some rewarding experiences throughout this symposium by visiting the University Museum, the Korea Textile Machinery Institute and Korea Dyeing Technology Center and the old capital city, Gyeongju.

Thank you.

Hyo Soo Lee, Ph.D.

President