Delegation from Samoa’s Ministry of Education and Culture Visits GDUFS

On May 13, Aiono Alec Ekeroma, Minister of Education and Culture of Samoa, led a delegation to visit Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). The delegation was accompanied by Xu Shimin, Chief Inspector of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province, as well as representatives from the department and the Office of Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee. Shi Youqi, Secretary of the Party Committee of GDUFS, met with the guests in the First Conference Room on the Baiyun Mountain Campus. The two sides held in-depth discussions on topics including China-Samoa educational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. The meeting was chaired by Liu Jianda, Vice President of GDUFS.

Highlight from the Meeting

Secretary Shi extended a warm welcome to the delegation on behalf of the university. He noted that GDUFS is distinguished by its international orientation and has long been committed to promoting educational and people-to-people exchanges between China and South Pacific Island countries. The university has established a cooperative partnership with the National University of Samoa and has also forged cooperation with institutions, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Samoa Multi-Country Office and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representation in Samoa. GDUFS is set to send students to Samoa for internships and practical learning. In addition, the university has taken the lead in establishing the Guangdong-Pacific Island Countries Academic Alliance and has organized multiple training programs for civil servants and young leaders from Pacific Island countries, providing a sustained platform and intellectual support for bilateral cooperation. He also mentioned that drawing on its strengths in foreign language disciplines and its extensive experience in cultivating international talent, GDUFS stands ready to take this visit as a new starting point to further deepen practical cooperation with Samoan universities in areas such as educational resource sharing, faculty and student exchanges, joint research, talent cultivation for international organizations, and language and cultural exchanges, with a view to broadening cooperation and enriching its substance. He expressed the hope that both sides would work hand in hand to translate cooperation into concrete outcomes, promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and help build a China-Pacific Island Countries community with a shared future.

Shi Youqi addressed the meeting.

Minister Ekeroma expressed his sincere appreciation to the Department of Education of Guangdong Province and GDUFS for their long-standing support for the development of education in Samoa. He mentioned that GDUFS has achieved fruitful results in educational cooperation with South Pacific Island countries and that some members of the delegation had previously participated in exchange programs and studied at the university, making this visit a meaningful opportunity to return to GDUFS. He stated that Samoa currently faces practical needs in expanding access to basic education, advancing vocational education, and strengthening teacher training. Guangdong’s extensive experience in building its educational system and developing vocational education provides a valuable reference for Samoa. He expressed the hope of drawing on GDUFS’s disciplinary strengths and platform resources to deepen cooperation in technical and vocational education and training, teacher training, and student exchanges, thereby supporting the high-quality development of Samoa’s education sector. He also hoped that the meeting would serve as a starting point for more substantive cooperation and help carry forward the friendship between the two countries through educational exchanges.

Aiono Alec Ekeroma addressed the meeting.

Chief Inspector Xu noted in his remarks that Guangdong attaches great importance to educational opening-up and actively promotes educational exchanges and cooperation with Pacific Island countries. He pointed out that Guangdong has developed a multi-level and wide-ranging pattern for educational opening-up, and that a number of Guangdong universities have carried out practical cooperation with educational institutions in Samoa and other countries through training programs and exchange activities, building effective communication bridges between the two sides. He highlighted that the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education would continue to support Guangdong universities in deepening sister-school partnerships, faculty and student exchanges, and talent cultivation cooperation with Samoan institutions, thereby creating more favorable conditions for educational exchanges. He expressed the hope that the meeting would serve as an opportunity to elevate educational exchanges to a new level and further contribute to China-Samoa people-to-people exchanges.

Xu Shimin addressed the meeting.

During the discussion session, the two sides conducted in-depth exchanges on practical China-Samoa educational cooperation, teacher capacity development, faculty and student exchanges, cultural heritage preservation, international student cultivation, and scholarship support, among other topics. The discussions further strengthened consensus and expanded avenues for future cooperation. Representatives from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, the Academic Research Division, the School of Global and Area Studies, and the Institute for International Education of GDUFS were also present at the meeting.

Group Photo