Ambassador of China to Bosnia and Herzegovina visited the University of Banja Luka

On 24 August 2016, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Ms Chen Bo, visited the University of Banja Luka. On behalf of the University, the honoured guest was welcomed by the Rector, Prof. Milan Mataruga, and Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Prof Valerija Šaula. The participants of the meeting discussed the forthcoming opening of the Confucius Institute at the University of Banja Luka, as well as other projects and forms of cooperation both with the Embassy and other partners from China.

To start with, the Rector informed Ms Bo about all the activities performed at the University so far with the aim of providing conditions to establish the aforementioned Institute. He also pointed out that the mutual exchange of professors, associates and students, as well as the realisation of scientific projects would be significantly simplified and improved by opening of the Institute.

Furthermore, Prof. Šaula reminded Ms Bo of the fact that the University and Embassy had had excellent cooperation for many years, and that it had been realised through activities such as visits and lectures held by ambassadors, equipment donations, providing scholarships and alike. As an example of the exceptional cooperation with partners from China, she mentioned scholarships that were awarded to the best students from our University by the Huawei Company.

Ms Bo said she was pleased with the level of the  cooperation realized, and added that the diplomatic mission headed by her would work on further improvement of this cooperation. On this occasion, Ms Bo officially handed to the Rector of the University of Banja Luka the invitation to the Third meeting of institutions of higher education of China with countries from Central and Eastern Europe, which is going to be held in Beijing this year. In the same period, at the invitation of his Chinese colleagues, the Rector is going to participate in the Fourth meeting as well, whose topic will be the dialogue on policies of higher education between China and countries from Central and Eastern Europe.