Malta is
being promoted as a location of both international dialogue as well as scholarship,
revealed Foreign Minister Michael Frendo on Wednesday while opening a Students
Conference on the Attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area and the
External Dimensions of the Bologna Process, organised by KSU and the National
Unions of Students in
Europe.
“The role of education is crucial for the Mediterranean
region’s stability and for its effective socio-economic, political and cultural
development, said the Minister, adding that “Malta is committed to encouraging
students from third countries to study and train here during the formative
stage of their careers as the promotion of Malta as a location of international
dialogue and scholarship is an important strategic objective of our foreign
policy”.
Dr. Frendo said that education is an important component in
a country’s foreign relations since the basics of foreign relations are people
and the Bologna Process which the conference is discussing is based on the
contact of people with people.
He insisted that education is pivotal in fostering the
values of democracy, respect for the rule of law, human rights and peace,
values which Malta insists upon in its actions with the international community
be it Mediterranean, European or at world level, as clearly stated in the
Strategic Objectives of Malta’s Foreign Policy.
Minister Frendo reminded that the importance of education
for the
Mediterranean was strongly recognized
in the five-year work programme agreed by the Euro-Med partners in November
2005.
Although the achievement of the
Barcelona Process is sometimes questioned in certain quarters, no one doubt the
validity of the objectives and methods of the Euro-Med Partnership.
In 2006 the European Commission issued a proposal for the
setting-up of a “Network of Euro-Mediterranean Universities – a
Euro-Mediterranean Area of Higher Education”. The idea behind this Network is
to “extend” the Bologna Process to the Euro-Mediterranean Area.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that
Malta is
committed to encouraging students from third countries to study and train here
during the formative stage of their careers.
“International students bring cultural benefits and enrich
the institutions they attend by contributing new ideas, attitudes and
experiences. The support of the education and training of students from
developing countries is also an integral part of
Malta’s Overseas Development Policy”,
concluded Dr. Frendo.
