A practical conference on the theme of EU – Tajikistan higher-education cooperation was held on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 May 2017, as the final event in a series of similar conference that have been conducted in a total of 10 countries in Central Asia and Asia in the framework of the EU-funded project ‘European Higher Education Fairs in Central Asia and Asia.

The conference, which was organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Tajikistan, and the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan, brought together 70 participants from Tajikistan and the European Union to discuss a range of issues relating to international cooperation in higher education, internationalisation of curricula, and the transition to the Bologna Process. The conference was formally opened by Mr Rakhmatullo Mirboboev, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tajikistan, and Mr Maciej Adam Madalinski, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Tajikistan.

During the course of the conference, participants were able to listen to presentations of case studies of existing cooperation activities conducted by partner universities from Tajikistan and the EU, included those funded by the European Union’s flagship Erasmus+ programme. Participants also had the opportunity to engage in practical discussion of best practice approaches to developing effective international cooperation and preparing funding proposals, and heard about current and forthcoming EU funding opportunities.

On the second day of the conference, the programme merged with a regional conference on quality assurance in vocational and higher education sectors, organised by the EU-funded project ‘Central Asia Education Platform.’ This event, which was formally opened by Mr Bozorali Odinazoda, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Republic of Tajikistan; Mr Emim Sanginzoda, First Deputy Minister of Labour, Migration and Employment, Republic of Tajikistan; H.E. Mr Hidajet Biščević, Head of Delegation/Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan; H.E. Mr Piotr Iwaszkiewicz, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Republic of Uzbekistan and Republic of Tajikistan, brought together specialists from across the Central Asia region, along with presenters from Europe.