On June 19th, the 7th Annual Board Meeting of the Confucius Institute at the University of Mauritius (CI-UoM) was held at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU). The members of the Board present included Prof. Zhao Quanjun, the Chinese chair of CI Board and Chair of Council of ZSTU; Prof. Sanjeev Sobhee, the Mauritian chair of CI Board and Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius; Prof. Yao Juming, Vice President of ZSTU; Mrs Bodita Ramano, Senior Administrative Manager at UoM; Prof Fu Mingduan and Assoc. Prof. Naraindra Kistamah, the two co-Directors of CI-UoM; Prof. Liu Zheng, Dean of ZSTU School of International Education; and Mr FU Xiang, Director of ZSTU International Exchange & Cooperation Office of ZSTU. The meeting was presided over by Prof. Yao Juming.
Prof. ZHAO Quanjun addressing the CI-UoM Board members
Prof. Zhao Quanjun fully acknowledged the remarkable achievements of CI-UoM over the past seven years in Chinese language teaching, promoting Chinese culture, and facilitating inter-university cooperation. Zhao emphasized that, moving forward, the Confucius Institute should continuously strengthen its teaching staff, enrich cultural exchange activities, and promote scientific research and academic exchanges between the two universities to achieve sustainable development. He expressed his hope that Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and the University of Mauritius would deepen their cooperation further, more robustly support the work of the Confucius Institute, and cultivate more Chinese language talents for the collaboration between China and Mauritius. Additionally, he hoped to see enhanced collaboration between the two universities in various disciplines, scientific research, and student and faculty exchanges, creating more opportunities for the development and increased influence of both institutions.
Prof. Sanjeev SOBHEE addressing the CI-UoM Board members
Prof. Sanjeev Sobhee expressed his gratitude to Zhejiang Sci-Tech University for its continuous support for the development of the University of Mauritius and the Confucius Institute. After providing an update on the progress of the setting up of Confucius Institute's language laboratory, he stated that the University of Mauritius would continue to implement the cooperation agreement between the two universities and actively promote in-depth cooperation in multiple fields. The VC also stated that the University is supportive of the sustainable development of CI-UoM and the strengthening of ties between CI-UoM and the local community.
Both parties paid attention to the 2023 annual work report and financial report presented by Prof. Fu Mingduan, the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute, and Dr. Naraindra Kistamah, the Mauritian Director of the Confucius Institute. They reviewed and approved the 2024 work plan and financial budget. Additionally, other related matters were discussed during the meeting.
During his visit to ZSTU, the VC of UoM met Prof. FU, the Vice-Dean of the College of Life Sciences & Medicine. The Vice Dean gave an expose of the current research work being carried out by his staff and students, in particular, in the field of tumor therapy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and marine biology. He believes that there is an interesting variety of endemic species of microorganisms, plants and fauna in Mauritius, that could be explored. Prof. Sobhee talked about the potential collaboration between the College and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of UoM, especially in the field of plant pathology, and diabetes & cardiovascular treatment using medicinal plants.
Prof. Sobhee also met the staff of the School of Information and Science Engineering (SISE) of ZSTU. Prof. SHEN Jiao, Dean and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of SISE presented some of the research works of the School. The VC spoke of potential areas of collaboration notably in the field of cybersecurity, and other areas such as PhD supervision, guest lecturing, colloquium, and research projects at national and international (China/Africa) level. He recommends that a Memorandum of Agreement be set up between SISE and the Faculty of Information, Communication, and Digital Technologies of UoM.
From Left to Right: Prof. LIU Zheng, Mr FU Xiang, Prof. YAO Juming, Prof. ZHAO Quanjun, Prof. Sanjeev SOBHEE, Mrs Bodita RAMANO, Prof FU Mingduan and Assoc. Prof. Naraindra KISTAMAH.