Ovidiu Folcut: Azerbaijan Studies Center Is First Of Its Kind In Romania

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 21



Trend:



The Azerbaijan Studies Center opened under the Romanian-American University with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is the first of its kind in Romania, the Romanian-American University rector Ovidiu Folcut said.



The Azerbaijan Studies Center was opened in Bucharest in October 2013. A cooperation agreement was signed between the Romanian representative office of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Romanian-American University on the opening day.



During the event, the rector of the Romanian-American University Ovidiu Folcut expressed gratitude to the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva for the importance attached to the Romanian-American University.



As Folcut told Trend in an interview, the Center's activities include Azerbaijani language classes, conferences on economic and cultural subjects, scientific symposiums.



He said the Center aims to establish partnerships with universities and companies from Azerbaijan, in order to create student exchange and internship programs.



"Our main goal is to offer to our students a better understanding of the Azerbaijani culture and business environment in order to improve the economic and cultural relations between Romania and Azerbaijan," Folcut said.



"Romanian-American University's students are future economists, diplomats, international lawyers, specialists in IT and international tourism," he said.



"We are trying to offer them a global perspective and an authentic view on different cultures that shape the international environment nowadays," he said.



Further speaking of the Center, Folcut noted that there are Heydar Aliyev Foundation-supported Azerbaijani language courses held by native-speaking teachers.



He added that the workshops are held with the participation of specialists from Azerbaijan in the fields of culture and economics, international symposia, cultural events (films, concerts and so on).



"With the support of both the Foundation and the Embassy, we were able to hold the first classes of Azerbaijani language in Bucharest," Folcut said. "We were the second University in Romania that started such activities after Babes-Bolyai University from Cluj."



"We held very interesting conferences such as "Azerbaijan - A Model of Successful Development", and some of our students were able to include case studies about Azerbaijan's economy or tourism, in particular, in their thesis," he added.



The conference on "Azerbaijan - A Model of Successful Development" was held in the Romanian-American University in Bucharest with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation on November 21, 2013.



The conference was attended by the management of the Romanian-American University, teachers and students of the university, the staff of the embassy of Azerbaijan in Romania, the Romanian representative office of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), the Azerbaijani-Romanian Association of Youth and Culture, the members of the Azerbaijani-Romanian Chamber of Commerce, the representatives of the International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijani, Turk-Tatar communities in Romania.



Folcut said that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is one of the most proactive organizations in the world, engaged in realizing projects in education, healthcare, culture, sports, science, technology, ecology and social spheres.



"We hope that in the future we can both support a better cooperation, academic and cultural," he noted.