(From left to right, front to back) The Members and Representatives of the CPSC Governing Board: Ms. Joanne Waine, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Papua New Guinea in the Philippines; Mme. Zumar-E-Fatima Shirazi, Deputy Head of the Embassy of Pakistan in the Philippines; Prof. Dr. Suresh Kumar Dhameja, CPSC Director General; Mr. David Bungallon, Executive Director of the National Institute for Technical Education and Skills Development, TESDA, representing CPSC Governing Board Chairperson; H.E. Constance See Sin Yuan, Ambassador of Singapore to the Philippines and CPSC Governing Board Vice-Chairperson; Mr. Rangsant Srimangkorn, Chargé d'Affaires of the Royal Thai Embassy; Ms. Celina C. Cua-Bayot, Assistant Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of United Nations and International Organizations (DFA-UNIO); Ms. Chathuri Kalpana, Consular Officer of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Philippines; Hon. San Yu Kyaw, Chargé d'Affaires/Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Myanmar in the Philippines; H.E. F.M. Borhan Uddin, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Philippines; H.E. Dato’ Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Philippines; and Mr. Bipin Kumar Baranwal, Second Secretary of the Embassy of India in the Philippines)
The Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) held its 118th Governing Board (GB) Meeting on January 30, 2025 at its headquarters in Pasig City, Philippines. This marked Prof. Dr. Suresh Kumar Dhameja’s first Governing Board Meeting as the new CPSC Director General.
The meeting convened Heads of Missions and country representatives from the embassies of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, along with representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of United Nations and International Organizations (DFA-UNIO), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Philippines. The Colombo Plan Secretary-General, Dr. Benjamin Reyes, also attended the meeting virtually.
Mr. David Bungallon, representing TESDA as the current CPSC GB Chairperson (center), H.E. Constance See Sin Yuan, CPSC GB Vice-Chairperson (left), and Prof. Dr. Suresh Kumar Dhameja, CPSC Director General (right) during the GB meeting
The Board deliberated on key agenda items such as the adoption of the Minutes of the 117th Governing Board Meeting held on June 27, 2024, and the summary of actions taken based on the Board’s decisions and matters arising from the previous meeting.
CPSC was pleased to report its reaffirmed commitment to the Government of the Philippines as they signed the revised Headquarters Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on October 31, 2024. The Board also saw the midyear report on the Staff College’s activities and accomplishments for FY 2024-2025, as well as the external audit report on CPSC’s financial statements for FY 2023-2024. The Board commended CPSC for the successful completion of programs carried out for the benefits of the member countries through strategic management of its budget.
118th Governing Board Meeting in session
During the meeting, CPSC presented to the Board the report on the recruitment of a new Faculty Specialist, and other essential policy matters for review and deliberations of the Board.
CPSC informed the Board of its upcoming activities as outlined in the program calendar for January to June 2025, and discussed the schedule for the 119th CPSC Governing Board Meeting. The meeting was successfully concluded after comprehensive discussions, which will guide the Staff College operations in the next half of FY 2024-2025.
