In accordance with the EMA2 call, the objective of the project is to facilitate the new collaborations between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from the least developed countries in South and Southeast Asia and EU, and also to reinforce the existing cooperation in the region by exchanging information in science and policy issues while sharing key issues of sustainable development in academic cooperation. The project will establish an innovative framework for capacity development of junior faculty staff, undergraduates, postgraduates, and postdoc researchers through training and upgrading their skills in specified fields of study through a scheme of structured mobility between 7 EU partners and 13 universities in South and Southeast Asia (SSEA) from 10 countries. The main objectives of the project are:  To build on the experience and existing cooperation of the EXPERTS consortium establishing sustainable cooperation among the partners from both SSEA and EU in high quality research and education  To enhance the international cooperation capacity of the participating institutions from SSEA by transferring and sharing know-how and best practices, administrative capacities, and training the next generation of researchers and academic staff,  To exchange ideas, views and knowledge among the partners from both SSEA and EU thus creating opportunities for enhanced communication, collaboration, cultural awareness, and understanding the roles of HEIs,  To promote EU Higher Education Systems in the participating third countries, in particular to enhance the attractiveness of European higher education in the region,  To promote cooperation between sending and hosting institutions- with the goal to increase the compatibility of Higher Education Systems in the EU and Asia and their joint efforts in partnership by facilitating transfer of know-how and good practices,  planning of sustainable cooperation,  organization of annual consortium meetings,  training in emerging practices and methodologies in research and teaching,  preparation of information and dissemination events,  preparation of dissemination materials (leaflets, publications, etc),  development of a website,  Implementation of an extensive partnership agreement with equal rights and obligations for all partners, development of internal quality tools based on evaluation reports and other indicators,  Developing joint supervision for PhD.  Interacting with other Erasmus Mundus Action 2- consortium in the region/ working with non-university partners - at content level, special emphasis in the EXPERTS project is given to research and cooperation and to the development of collaborative research initiatives and business opportunities through joint research initiatives in the priority field areas for Lot 12 with special emphasis on engineering and technology, agricultural sciences, environmental studies, business-management and social sciences. In the long run joint study programs shall be developed and implemented. At PhD and postdoc level priority will be given to the joint development of innovative and high quality research proposals relevant to the region. Half of academic mobilities will be given to staff from international relations offices to train them in internationalization.