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Partnership between VUZF University and Republic of Korea and recent visit of Korean experts in Bulgaria
10 11 16

Partnership between VUZF University and Republic of Korea and recent visit of Korean experts in Bulgaria

In June 2016, VUZF University signed two partnership agreements with SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY and HANYANG UNIVERSITY, which provide opportunities for cooperation in research projects, researcher mobility and student mobility. These leading Korean universities have substantial achievements in the STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

As per partnership agreements, VUZF University will provide opportunities for its researchers and students to visit South Korea in 2017 and learn first-hand from experiences of the economy, which has been ranked No.7 in terms of innovation in the global world. VUZF University partners successfully for several years with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Bulgaria. In 2014, our university hosted for a lecture H.E. Shin Maeng-ho, Ambassador, whereas in 2015, in partnership with the Emabssy, we organized an international conference in the capital of Bulgaria, called “Bringing Korea’s Experience in Innovation, Education and Science in Bulgaria”, (http://ino.vuzf.bg/korea/).

This week, researchers at VUZF University took part in the second visit of the Knowledge Support Program (KSP) of the Korean government, which involved Korean experts and Bulgarian senior researchers. It took place on 7-8 November in Sofia. The KSP Program was launched in August 2017, which included three research projects, namely: a) Capital Markets, where we find Prof. Daniela Bobeva as one of the lead experts under a project, led by the Economic Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Science; б) Promotion of small-and-medium sized businesses, led by the Bulgarian Promotion SME Agency, and в) Governance Mechanism for the Promotion Agency for Research and Innovation (PARI), where we have Prof. Evgeni Evgeniev (Vice-Rector at VUZF University) as a lead expert in a project, led by the Ministry of Education and Science.

In the framework of the second visit, Korean experts offered their expertise in a workshop, organized at the Economic Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Science on November 7th. The project, led by the Ministry of Education and Science, organized separate meetings for the Korean experts with representatives of the private sector and the academic sector on November 8th.

In January 2017, the Bulgarian experts shall visit Seoul (Republic of Korea), while in February 2017, Dr. Shin Teayong and Prof. Evgeni Evgeniev will present a report, which analyzes the governance mechanism of the Bulgarian innovation and research system and offer recommendations for the establishment of a new PARI Agency and its functioning. Prof. Bobeva and a team of Bulgarian and Korean experts will present a report related to developments of the Bulgarian capital market, based on Korean experience.

Our students at VUZF University are gradually becoming more interested in Republic of Korea. Last month, Dobromir Kondov, our Finance Master Program student, defended successfully a master thesis, entitled “Knowledge support Program of the Korean Government and its economic impact on partner countries”. Prof. Evgeni Evgeniev was his scientific supervisor, while Prof. Daniela Bobeva served as his reviewer.