IPACS RANEPA Russian-Cuban expert week: strengthening partnership in the educational sector
The annual Russian-Cuban expert week “¡Rusia y Cuba juntos para siempre!” was held at the Presidential Academy of RANEPA. The purpose of the event is to strengthen relations between Russia and Cuba, improve the skills of Cuban civil servants, develop scientific and expert cooperation, and popularize the Cuban region among students. The main tracks of the week this year: public administration, digitalization, business, and finance.
On the part of Cuban colleagues, 40 listeners took part in the event, for whom experts from the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service (IPACS) of the Academy gave specialized lectures.
The organizers of the week are traditionally IPACS and the Higher School of State and Government Personnel of Cuba. The interaction between the two universities began with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in Moscow, when the first memorandum of cooperation was signed in 2019, which became the starting point for the implementation of further projects.
Vice-Rector of the Presidential Academy for International Affairs Polina Nemirovchenko:
“I would like to thank my Cuban colleagues for the fruitful educational cooperation, which has been going on for many years. The IPACS Russian-Cuban Expert Week allows you to gain new knowledge and exchange experiences through specialized lectures from experts. Every year, the number of participants – Cuban civil servants who participated in joint educational programs – is growing.”
The rector of the Higher School of State and Government Personnel of the Republic of Cuba, Mercedes Delgado Fernandez, spoke about the fruitful interaction with the Academy:
“The Higher School of State and Government Personnel of the Republic of Cuba has been interacting with the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of the RANEPA for the past 5 years. The Russian-Cuban Expert Week is an excellent platform where representatives of the highest government bodies of both countries can exchange experience in the field of management and public policy.”
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba to the Russian Federation Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña noted the importance of strengthening partnerships not only between the two countries, but also with educational, scientific, and cultural organizations.
Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Alexey Lavrov shared with his colleagues the current state of financial relations between Russia and Cuba, and emphasized that, as part of cooperation between the countries, a number of projects will be implemented in priority sectors that have been identified by both states.
The topic of education has become no less important. Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Sergei Terashkevich spoke about the experience of educational cooperation between partner organizations of Russia and Cuba. Thus, countries are actively creating joint academic mobility and advanced training programs for civil servants. Scientific cooperation in various fields is actively developing in the Russian-Cuban direction.
“Every year, Cuban citizens are allocated a quota of 100 places in educational organizations of the Russian Federation. The Government of the Russian Federation is also providing additional grant support,” the speaker emphasized.
In turn, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Republic of Cuba, Reynaldo Velazquez Saldivar, also confirmed the importance of educational interaction between Russia and Cuba:
“Plans for Russian-Cuban cooperation on organizing academic exchange, scholarship programs, language training, research activities with the participation of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation.” The Federation and Republic of Cuba are implemented in accordance with the expectations of the parties. I hope that our interaction will only strengthen.”
A special emphasis was placed on the historical aspect of interstate relations between the two states by the director of the Latin American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Shchetinin.
“Russia and Cuba are bound by strong bonds of friendship and fraternal solidarity, the desire to preserve the continuity of generations and the inviolability of the values and priorities that have been jointly created for more than sixty years. Cuba has become a love for many Russians. The Cuban Revolution, Fidel and Raul Castro, Che Guevara, is not only the history of Cuba, but also Soviet and Russian history. Havana is our strategic partner, which has proven in practice that the true authority of a country on the world stage does not depend on its size, population and economic volume. The policy of the two countries is based on a sense of national pride, a willingness to pursue a sovereign course, to defend their interests despite external pressure and illegitimate unilateral sanctions.”
