SARGODHA:The Alliance of Islamic Universities of Africa (AIUA) and University of Sargodha (UoS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for bilateral cooperation and academic excellence through joint ventures.
The agreement was signed during a visit of the AIUA representatives from five African countries and was signed by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Qaisar Abbas and 15 vice chancellors and representatives of the Alliance of Islamic Universities of Africa.
The agreement would promote activities including development methodologies, mobility of experts, sharing experiences and best practices, in addition to providing a platform for collaborative activities in the parties’ relevant fields of mutual interest.
Addressing the ceremony, Prof. Qaisar Abbas said the agreement was broad and covered all aspects and levels of academic collaboration between the higher education institutions of Islamic countries. He added that the agreement would help in building an ecosystem of collaboration and enabling knowledge-based economic growth in the OIC member states, particularly in the African region. The alliance would open avenues to share ideas, skills, expertise, and best practices to pool resources for mutual support and benefit for each institution, he further added.
Dr Abbas expressed that by establishing such a collaboration and agreement, an understanding would be improved between the academics and the students from institutions and countries also. It would also strengthen the institutions’ relationships with friendly Islamic countries and cooperation in their respective fields of expertise, he said.
The basic idea behind this collaboration is to build cooperation among higher education institutions of Africa and the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence (CCoE) member institutions, University of Sargodha and to create a bond between the two networks and to empower both in the development of their tertiary education system through existing COMSTECH Programs and other collaborative activities.
The delegation also visited the Wazir Agha Central Library, College of Pharmacy, Industrial Unit, and Citrus Research Unit of Sargodha University and appreciated the contributions of UoS to academic and community services.
A beautiful evening and a dinner was also arranged in the honor of the delegation and souvenirs were presented to all vice chancellors and representatives of the Alliance of Islamic Universities of Africa.