In line with the Expo 2020 Dubai’s thematic Knowledge and Learning Week, which runs from December 12 to 18, 2021, Colombia Pavilion kicked off the initiative in the presence of José Maximiliano Gómez Torres, Colombia’s Vice Minister of Education.The vice minister discussed key elements focusing on the future of education and work, the necessity for skills development and training, and working around education systems.

Further, he highlighted initiatives being undertaken by Colombia to enhance its education sector, including exploring the formalization of twin-track academic mobility programs, financing assistance for migrant communities in Colombia, and strategies for the internationalization of higher education. His talk also covered the Colombia Scholarship Program, insights on teachers and students’ mobility, language immersion programs, and the Arab scholarship system.

José Maximiliano Gómez Torres, Vice Minister of Education said: “In a bid to promote Colombia as a destination for quality higher education, we have here 21 rectors from Colombian public and private universities.Expo 2020 serves as an opportunity for us to highlight the advancements of our education sector, talk about potential opportunities in this field, and promote our prestigious educational institutions, which are at par with international standards. For those interested in taking higher education programs in a very welcoming country with warm people, Colombia’s doors are open for you.”

Colombia Pavilion will receive representatives from more than 40 important universities in Colombia and members of ICETEX, a state entity promoting higher education by sourcing educational credits for lower economic and good academic performance populations. The group discusses leveraging the power of knowledge sharing to devise solutions in the education sector and establish global collaborations to provide opportunities for education seekers.

Manuel Acevedo Jaramillo, President of ICETEX said: “Over the last 20 years, Colombia has made impressive progress in the higher education system particularly in its facilities, orientation to research, teaching staff, among others. ICETEX, through various programs, continue to assist in advancing and enhancing the nation’s education sector, which we are promoting here at Expo 2020. GoColombia also created a program designed to attract more foreign students in our country for research and trainings.”

The South American country also seeks to collaborate with the UAE government on various levels and explore the UAE’s initiatives in Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital economy, renewable energy, health sciences, and bioeconomy. Bioeconomy is an emerging model for industry and economy that utilizes renewable biological resources to produce goods.