President lays foundation stone at American University of Beirut - Mediterraneo

President Nikos Christodoulides said one of the aims of his policy is to establish Cyprus as a regional and international educational, technological and research hub, as he laid the foundation stone at American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo in Paphos.

Christodoulides said that education was a significant contributor to Cyprus’ GDP and so the government wanted to support such initiatives and to express its appreciation for the vote of confidence.

His presence at the opening of AUB Mediterraneo, he added, was an indication of the government’s commitment to promoting academic excellence as well as supporting regional synergies and cooperation. "The opening of the American University of Beirut - Mediterraneo creates new avenues for knowledge, innovation, and research,” the President said.

Christodoulides said AUB has a rich legacy spanning over 157 years, having influenced the lives of thousands of students and contributed to the prosperity of Lebanon and the nearby countries, including Cyprus. Through the establishment of the Cyprus campus in Paphos, he added, “it can contribute both to the education sector in Cyprus, while at the same time can serve in further reinforcing the strong bridge between Cyprus and Lebanon, by fostering deeper collaboration and friendship between our academic communities”.

He added, “The establishment of American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo in Paphos is fully in line with our policy to establish Cyprus as a regional and international educational, technological and research hub. In the context of implementing our Governance Programme, we aim to promote Cyprus as an international, high-quality academic destination. At the same time, we are pursuing intergovernmental agreements for the mutual recognition of academic qualifications, with the aim of internationalising our higher education, while we systematically use the scientific potential of Cyprus universities for the formulation of development policies”.

President Christodoulides said he was pleased to see that Higher Education in Cyprus has been making tremendous progress over the past few years and acknowledged “the significant work by (his predecessor) President (Nicos) Anastasiades”.

The President assured the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AUB, Dr Philip Khoury, and the President of AUB, Dr Fadlo Khuri, that they can “count on the support of the Government”.

In his address, Paphos Mayor Phaedonas Phaedonos said after only 30 months from the first contact he had with AUB, “our effort comes to an amazing summit on September 7. Both a summit and a beginning, as the first academic year of AUB in Cyprus will be officially launched". "No other University operating on the island has managed to come all this way in just 30 months”, he remarked, adding that the university complex will be completed by next October.

He said it was “an historic day” which will go down as “a landmark in yet another page of this small city’s remarkable survival through time”, which is looking brightly at the future.

The Paphos Mayor said he is “confident that in the coming decades Cyprus will become a brilliant hub of university education for the entire region…In the years to come, we must, by building effective cooperation networks, make the most of our geography and turn Cyprus into a hub where knowledge and university education will be disseminated freely and in synergy, for the benefit of all.”

If we manage to raise the percentage of access to universities in our region by at least 15% in the near future and promote excellence through top tier education in the production chain of innovation and entrepreneurship, then we forge conditions of peace and prosperity, said Phaedonos.

(Source: CNA)