Cuba – Belgium University Cooperation Strengthened

Cuba and Belgium are strengthening their cooperation ties, Jan Cornelis, vice chancellor of the Free University of Brussels, said within the context of the opening of the Foreign Languages Advance Teaching Center, at the Eastern University (UO is the Spanish acronym).

Cornelis told AIN that the Belgium institution has shown interest in developing projects with Educations Centers that are not based in Havana, so they have reached out to universities at the five eastern provinces, among them Santiago de Cuba’s prestigious UO.

The vice chancellor pointed out that the Laboratory to learn English, French, and Spanish for the Caribbean area, nestled at Julio Antonio Mella center, was organized as a result of a previous experience at Villa Clara’s Marta Abreu Central University, and it will support other projects related to the cooperation with that country.

Among these projects, Cornelis mentioned one linked to the transference of technology, which can be applied in different spheres of Cuba’s social dynamics, especially in terms of the private sector’s development, as an element within the improvement of the Caribbean nation’s economic model.

The convene includes programs related to computer science training, development of basic sciences for innovation, social sciences and humanities, food security, pharmaceutics, power sources, medical equipment, research in different fields, among others.

The Belgium academician put emphasis on the interest in making the relation between both countries stronger, aiming at academic, scientific, technologic and intercultural sectors, which have been promoted since 2012 by the Flemish Interuniversity Council, known as VLIR, with the UO for local development, and is going to be valid through 2024.