B-International project: French ambassador welcomes representatives from 8 universities

ISLAMABAD: The newly-arrived French Ambassador Nicolas Galey on Wednesday welcomed representatives from eight universities – four Pakistani and four European – that have collaborated for a capacity-building project in higher education under “B-International”.

B-International is a collaborative capacity-building project in higher education between Pakistan, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain, and is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.

The project brings together four prestigious universities in Pakistan; COMSATS University Islamabad; LUMS; NUST and PIFS, and four top-notch European Universities: Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK), Ecole Centrale de Nantes (France), University of Bologna (Italy), University of Salamanca (Spain) – all working together in the spirit of internationalisation.

On the occasion of the very first meeting of the consortium in Pakistan for a one-week workshop from 20-24 June 2022, the French ambassador to Pakistan hosted representatives of these eight universities, along with the ambassadors of the UK, Italy, and Spain, and representatives from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and the European Delegation in Pakistan at his residence.

The get-together marked the successful conclusion of the very first meeting of the consortium in Pakistan for a one-week workshop.

The event also marked the start of formal public diplomacy of the French Embassy and the newly-appointed ambassador after some gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the protest movement by Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) against the publication of sacrilegious cartoons in a French magazine as well as public support to the magazine by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking on the occasion, the French ambassador said France strongly supported academic cooperation between the Pakistani universities and their counterparts in France and Europe.

He said that such a project deserves to be celebrated: the B-International project will reinforce Pakistan’s HEC Vision 2025 on internationalisation through building capacity within the higher education sector, enhancing international collaboration, and supporting the development of global mind-sets of the youth.

He said that the first two years of the B-International project have coincided with a global pandemic, meaning all of the B-International Partners were yet to meet face-to-face.

Nevertheless, colleagues from the eight universities across Europe and Pakistan worked passionately and tirelessly for the last two and a half years adapting work plans and delivering to achieve endless success in the name of internationalization and B-International, he added.

He said that this international visit to Islamabad marks the very first time that the B-International consortium members from both Europe and Pakistan have met in person.

“It is a key milestone in the projects. Colleagues from Europe will have the first opportunity to deepen their understanding of Pakistan. This trip is also the start of many visits to all partner nations in the EU across the remainder of the project,” the ambassador said.

Connecting in person, peer to peer, faculty to faculty, institution to institution, will bolster the collaborative and capacity-building efforts and ensure sustainable impact of the B-International project and the connections regarding higher education between Pakistan, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, the coordinator of the project, Anna Thomas from Cardiff Metropolitan University, emphasized the need for greater collaboration of these universities of Pakistan and the EU for greater capacity building and sharing of experiences.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022