The 1^st Tri-University International Joint Seminar and Symposium was held at Mie University of Japan in 1994. The conference was formed by the collaboration of the three founder universities which are composed of Mie University (MU) of Japan, Chiang Mai University (CMU) of Thailand and Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (JUST) of China.

  At the beginning, the main purpose of the conference was to provide international opportunities, experiences and knowledge rather for younger scientists and students, especially in the topics of Population, Food, Energy and Environment under the main theme of the Roles of Aisa in the World towards the 21^st century. General knowledge of the four critical issues of world from different parts of Aisa were gathered, shared, integrated and discussed during the seminar and symposium. The conference also aimed at promoting the basic understanding among the participants from different countries. Some other activities such as culture exchanges and observation tours were occasionally arranged by the host, in viewpoints of the participants.

  That is a brief overview of the Tri-University Joint Seminar and Symposium having been done during the past ten years.

  Having been involved in the Tri-University program since 1995, the author has noticed that the conference does not only strengthen the basic knowledge and expand international experiences of the participants, but also the friendship between the new generation participants is unbelievable one of the most benefits from the conference. Thus the expansion of such a program has been gradually developed by consensus of the key persons in charge of the conference during the past few years.

  At the first stage of the expansion, some guest universities were invited to join and observe the activities of the conference. When the time passed by, the guest universities automatically became members of the Tri-University program.