UFRO signs agreement with Embassy of Kingdom of Morocco and establishes its first alliance with the African continent

The official signing of the agreement between UFRO and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco took place in presence of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Kenzha El Ghali; the cultural attaché, Ahmed Ait Belaid; the Rector of Universidad de la Frontera (UFRO), Dr. Eduardo Hebel; the director of UFROs International Affairs Office, Dr. Lorena Vieli; and the director of UFROs Office of Libraries and Information Resources, Dr. Carlos Del Valle.

The aim of the agreement signed at the meeting, where also Paulina Latorre, the coordinator of Internationalisation at UFRO, and María Paz Collío, who is in charge of International Agreements, were present, was to establish the general bases for academic, cultural and scientific cooperation, as well as the relationship regarding the fields teaching, research and dissemination of knowledge and culture.

The Rector of UFRO, Dr. Eduardo Hebel, stressed that “this agreement formalises our first alliance on the African continent and will allow us to be ambassadors of the Moroccan culture in the south of Latin America”. Apart from the agreement, at the meeting they also addressed the exchange possibilities for academics, researchers and students through the implementation of projects of mutual interest.

According to Kenzha El Ghali, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, the relationship started six years ago. “This is not the first time that I visit this university, on the contrary; we see it as an embassy in the south of Chile that disseminates our culture and civilisation”, she pointed out.

This agreement is the result of a great cooperation. “We are the first and only country in Africa that has an agreement with UFRO and we will continue to strengthen this relationship in order to meet our goals regarding student and academic exchange and to add internship opportunities in cooperation with Moroccan universities in the future”, the Ambassador added.

SPECIFIC AGREEMENT

Apart from the general agreement, another specific agreement was signed with the Doctorate in Communication of UFRO, which is led by Dr. Carlos Del Valle. This agreement formalises the creation of a ‘Moroccan Chair’, which will promote the study, knowledge and dialogue with the African country, as well as future projects and partnerships in other parts of the continent.

In this context, Dr. Carlos del Valle commented that the first exchange of students took place in 2018, within the framework of a seminar with Chilean and Moroccan academics. “Within the Doctoral Program in Communication of UFRO, we saw the opportunity to start a chair that would work as an initiator of partnerships and possibilities in other fields and for other academic units of the university,” Dr. del Valle explained.

Apart from that, another aim of this specific agreement is the collaboration and cooperation regarding publications, meetings, congresses and the exchange of literature, among others.