Letter of Intent for Cooperation between the Forestry Academy of Hunan, the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Science at the Central South University of Forestry and Technology, China and the Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Research at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
WHERAS, the Forest Academy of Hunan (hereinafter referred to as FAH), the Central South University of Forest and Technology (Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Science) (hereinafter referred to as CSUFT), and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences) (hereinafter referred to as SLU) have expressed an interest in biomass energy cooperation, the parties have hereto set out the following understanding through this Letter of Intent. 1. This Letter of Intent is an expression of the parties’ intent to cooperate in biomass energy, and is not intended to create any legally binding obligations. 2. The Director of FAH, the Dean of CSUFT, and the Dean of SLU shall be responsible for official matters in relation to this Letter of Intent. 3. Authorized representatives from the three parties shall propose and commence activities to promote biomass energy cooperation among the three parties. 4. Means of cooperation shall include: - Jointly conducting collaborative research projects; - Jointly applying collaborative research projects; - Jointly conducting seminars/workshops; - Jointly conducting training courses; - Exchanging visits/studies of professionals and students; - Exchanging publications and information; - Other programs of mutual interest; 5. Potential fields of cooperation shall include: biotechnology of biomass crops, breeding programs for biomass crops, management of shortrotation biomass plantations, system analysis of biomass energy, and environmental consequences of biomass plantations.
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6. The financial terms and other conditions under which each activity will be carried out shall be subject to subsequent specific collaboration agreements in English. All activities, as well as each person to the extent of their specified involvement in them, will be governed by the rules and regulations of the respective party. 7. Pursuant to this Letter of Intent, arrangements may be made between FAH, CSUFT, and SLU for the execution of specific projects. Concrete terms and methods relating to the specific area of cooperation, under this Letter of Intent shall be agreed upon separately through an exchange of letters. 8. Until such time as FAH, CSUFT, and SLU agree upon a generalized approach to intellectual property right (IPR) issues, each arrangement for research and other activities shall have specific provisions for IPR. Such arrangement shall be drawn up in the light of the status of FAH and CSUFT as Chinese partners and the status of SLU as a Swedish partner. 9. This Letter of Intent shall become effective after it has been executed by authorized representatives on behalf of FAH, CSUFT, and SLU, and shall remain effective for five years. It is agreed that if, after five years no modifications are necessary to this Letter of Intent in effect, signed by the three parties, this Letter of Intent and its terms for cooperation will be extended for additional five years. Either party can terminate this Letter of Intent upon written notice to the other parties within six months in advance, to take effect on the date six months after the notice. Upon termination, programs in progress may continue to completion where financial resources permit. 10. This Letter of Intent is made in three original copies in the English, one for each party. Matters concerning interpretation and administration of the Letter of Intent shall be agreed to by the three parties in writing.
The parties have executed this Letter of Intent by their authorized officers on November 15, 2007.
On behalf of the Forestry Academy of Hunan
______________________ Professor Chang Chu Li Director
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On behalf of the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Central South University of Forest and Technology
_______________________ Professor Zhang Riqing Dean
On behalf of the Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
___________________________ Professor Stig Larsson Vice Dean
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