The Education Division of the Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission Visits Moscow State Institute for Tourism Industry to Discuss Possible Cooperation -Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)

The Education Division of the Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission Visits Moscow State Institute for Tourism Industry to Discuss Possible Cooperation

Date: 2017-03-24

On March 7, 2017, William Lu, Secretary of the Education Division, and Fu Chao-Ming, Director of the Science and Technology Division of the Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission (TMECCC) visited Moscow State Institute for Tourism Industry (MSIIT) to extend an invitation to MSIIT to attend the APEC CTE Workshop on Skills Training in Industry-Academia Collaboration which is scheduled to be held at the end of April in Taiwan, and to discuss other possible educational cooperation. They were welcomed and the president, rector, and two pro-rectors of MSIIT.

The APEC CTE Workshop on Skills Training in Industry-Academia Collaboration in April is on Best Practices and Implementation in the Engineering, Hospitality, and Innovative Entrepreneurship Fields, and the Moscow State Institute for Tourism Industry has valuable experience in the field of hospitality that it could share. The institute could also explore the possibilities for educational cooperation with more Taiwanese higher education institutions while in Taiwan.

Separately, there is a strong and increasing demand for people proficient in Mandarin Chinese in the Russian market, so William Lu suggested a number of proposals that could help the institute to train more highly qualified Mandarin Chinese-speaking and culturally literate students, to become tour guides or business people, and thereby help attract more Chinese tourists and do more business with Chinese companies. For example, MSIIT could send teachers and personnel to winter teacher training groups in Taiwan and while in Taiwan recruit local Mandarin Chinese teachers to work at MSIIT.

Another possibility is for MSIIT to select excellent students to study Mandarin Chinese, or even a degree program, or a dual-degree program at a university in Taiwan. The president, rector, and two pro-rectors were very interested in further considering these proposals and one of MSIIT’s two pro-rectors, Dr. Olga Burukina will attend the APEC workshop at the end of April as a first step to enhance ties with Taiwan.

There is a recent “Oriental Fever” in Russia, with Mandarin Chinese possibly being included in the Unified State Exam (EGE), and implementation of the State 5-100 Project, so the Education Division of TMECCC is keenly encouraging Taiwanese universities to engage in more bilateral exchanges and further develop closer educational and research interaction and cooperation with Russian universities and institutions.