The M-I-T Student Mobility Programme was officially launched in 2010 with the participation of 23 universities nominated by their respective governments in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. During this phase, exchanges took place within 5 initial disciplines that were mutually agreed among the Countries, including Agriculture, Food Science & Technology, Hospitality & Tourism, International Business and Language & Culture.

An agreement was put forward to initiate the Review Meeting to monitor Programme progress and development. A total of 270 students took part in exchanges under the pilot phase of the M-I-T Student Mobility Programme. At the 45th SEAMEO Council Conference in 2010, it was agreed to expand the Programme to include more SEAMEO Member Countries and support 500 students by 2015.

Following the success of the  Pilot Phase, the M-I-T Student Mobility Programme was renamed as the ASEAN International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme in 2012 on account of the planned Programme expansion and the joining of Vietnam as the 4th Member Country. With increasing interest in the Programme, AIMS expanded its membership to include Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines and Japan in 2013, bringing the total number of participating universities to 59 and the number of student exchanges to 700.

Along with the continued growth of the Programme, SEAMEO RIHED and Member Countries agreed to establish the AIMS Steering Committee to handle technical issues and management for the benefit of the Programme. During this phase, AIMS expanded to include 5 more disciplines in the Programme to allow student exchanges across a wider range of academic specialisations, namely: Biodiversity, Economics, Engineering, Environmental Science & Management and Marine Science.

The Republic of Korea and Singapore joined the Programme in 2016 and 2019, respectively, bringing the total number of Member Countries to 9 and member universities to 78. In view of the broadened scope of the Programme over a decade and foreseeing the future expansion in the region and beyond, the agreement was reached to rename the Programme as Asian International Mobility for Students Programme (the acronym still remains AIMS). By 2019, more than 4950 students participated in the exchange under AIMS Programme.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has limited the AIMS Programme’s physical mobility due to safety and lockdown measures. To encourage continued exchange and benefits of mobility for the learners, the AIMS Programme expanded its scope to include hybrid/blended mobility and virtual exchange. The AIMS Members were agile to adapt to the disruption and collaboration continued in AIMS.

AIMS  has become more flexible in terms of mechanism, including the merging of 3 disciplines to be inter- and cross- disciplinary: Biodiversity, Marine Science, and Environmental Management and Science to allow for greater exchange.

With the disruption, it also presents new opportunities for AIMS to add more value for mobility. The AIMS Research Committee has been established to study the impact of AIMS and guide policy-direction, the AIMS Regional Orientation has been initiated for new AIMS students to learn about AIMS as a regional initiative and network among their peers, the AIMS Alumni Network has been set up, and the AIMS University Social Responsibility encourages the sharing of good practices and strengthen students’ learning about the region and contribution to the society. In addition, AIMS also explores inter-regional collaboration and microcredentials to enhance learning.