UfM Secretary General Sijilmassi receives the Honorable Conseller of Economy and Knowledge of the Government of Generalitat de Catalunya, Andreu Mas-Colell

Barcelona, 3 September 2014. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Fathallah Sijilmassi, and the Catalan Honorable Conseller of Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, held a bilateral meeting today at the headquarters of the UfM Secretariat to discuss opportunities for cooperation in education, in project implementation and in the exchange of best practices in Mediterranean cooperation.

During the session, which took place in the framework of a meeting gathering Rectors and Vice-Rectors for International Affairs of the universities of Barcelona, the Catalan Honorable Conseller Mas-Colell reiterated the support of the Government of Catalonia to UfM activities and projects in the field of education and research, and expressed his intention to transform universities into “a strategic bridge” to foster a closer relationship with other European and Mediterranean countries.

Both parties stressed the importance of the contacts made and of the agreements signed between the Catalan universities and the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes, which is one of the flagship projects promoted by the UfM Secretariat.

During the meeting, they highlighted Barcelona’s strategic role as a Euro-Mediterranean capital city and as an economic hub in the region.