The university participates in the 14th edition of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education fair with a delegation of Catalan universities and the Catalan Government

The Catalan Government and the Catalan universities, including the URV, have presented the main characteristics of the knowledge system in Catalonia at the 14th edition of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) fair, which took place in Kuala Lumpur until Friday 29 March. At this higher education fair, the most important in Asia, the Catalan delegation participated in and organised different activities, in addition to providing visitors with different publications and documentation on how to study in Catalonia and, among other things, the different courses they offer.

The Catalan delegation, headed by the general secretary of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia (CIC), Lluís Baulenas, gave a presentation on the Catalan universities and research system at one of the conferences.  The capacity of Catalan universities to attract international students was also discussed at this conference, especially regarding students who hail from the Asian continent.

Previously, the delegation met with Malaysia’s Director General of Education, Siti Hamisah Binti Tapsir, with whom they studied possible ways to collaborate with Malaysia in areas such as teaching and research.

Along with the CIC, the delegation also had members from the University of Barcelona (UB), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), the Ramon Llull University (URL), the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC) and the Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO).

In addition to the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, John Style, Marina Casals is also part of the delegation that travelled to Kuala Lumpur. She is the head of the International Center of the URV and has presented the European project SUCTI. Coordinated by the URV and integrated by seven more partners, this project promotes the internationalisation of administrative staff in their institutions. During the presentation it was noted that non-academic staff can play a role in either improving or hindering internationalisation and the skills taught to university graduates. Consequently, a model to involve university staff in internationalisation affairs was presented to ensure positive staff development.

This year the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) fair is organised by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) with the theme of “global competition in international education”. APAIE is an international non-profit association founded in 2004 at the University of Korea. It is made up of university representatives from thirteen countries and regions of Asia-Pacific. The main objectives of this association are to achieve greater cooperation among higher education academic institutions, to promote research, and to stimulate and facilitate the exchange and internationalisation of higher education in Asia, the Pacific regions and the world. It also promotes and supports the internationalisation of academic institutions. This edition is the seventh time the Catalan university system has been present at the fair.