São Paulo – The Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of Goiás and the Arab ambassadors may promote student exchange. The proposal was made on Friday (1) by president Wolmir Amado, during a visit by the Council of Arab Ambassadors to the university. The visit of the diplomats was the last engagement of the delegation to the state of Goiás, promoted in partnership with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
The proposal made by the president at PUC is that the university from Goiás send a student to each of the 22 Arab countries and to receive, in exchange, a student from each, to spend a period in Brazil. “It is a way to promote student mobility and intensify studies in several sectors, like science and culture,” said Amado after the meeting with the ambassadors, in the company of International Relations students at the institution.
Currently, PUC Goiás has partnerships with over 300 universities abroad for student exchange. One of these universities is the Lebanese Saint-Espirit de Kaslik, with which an agreement was signed in 2012, forecasting exchange of maters and doctoral programs.
This was the second exchange proposal received by the Arab diplomats during this mission to Goiás. On Thursday (28), state governor Marconi Perillo also proposed to the ambassadors the promotion of student exchange. Perillo suggested that 50 Arab students receive scholarships in Brazil. He said that the government of Goiás may cover student housing and feeding expenses.
Also at the meeting at PUC, the ambassador of Algeria in Brazil, Djamel Bennaoum, stated that after this mission of ambassadors to the state there should be visits by each of the diplomats to the university and to public companies and institutions in Goiás. "Today was a PUC Aula Magna, but we can promote separate meetings for students to learn the realities, demands and technologies of each country,” he said.
Positive result
After the last event of the mission, the ambassadors returned to Brasília. Before that, the dean of the Council of Ambassadors, the Palestinian Ibrahim Alzeben, stated that this visit to Goiás was "productive" and should "soon" result in business for Brazil and for the Arab nations.
"We have managed to identify good disposition of authorities from Goiás and from economic institutions in the state, which opens space for future partnerships and investment. This delegation will be followed by bilateral contacts. I know that it will soon start giving fruit with cooperation projects in the production of medication and ethanol, as well as academic exchange,” said Alzeben.
The CEO at the Chamber, Michel Alaby, stated that the visit of the ambassadors to Goiás served to show them opportunities in the region. "The delegation was positive as it opened good perspectives for the knowledge of ambassadors with regard to the state of Goiás and the academic community with regard to the Arabs, so much so that a meeting of Brazilians to the region is already being scheduled,” said Alaby.
Apart from the two delegations of the government of Goiás in the second half, a group of businessmen should visit the International Agriculture Salon, in Morocco, in April. If the visit is confirmed, they should also visit Sudan.
*Translated by Mark Ament
