Filenews 8 April 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
With a brilliant ceremony in the presence of the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, the Deputy Secretary of State of the United States, Lee Satterfield, who arrived for this purpose in Cyprus and officials of the Republic of Cyprus and the U.S. Embassy, the Agreement for the installation of the American University of Beirut in Paphos was signed tonight at the Markideion Municipal Theatre of Paphos. Within the framework of the ceremony, the architectural plans of the University's facilities, which will operate in the historic for Pafos complex of Carob Mills, which was granted for this purpose by the state to the Municipality of Pafos, took place.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of the agreement, the President of the Republic said that this choice arises as a result of the policy that the Government has adopted with the aim of upgrading the quality of University Education, establishing new Academic Institutions, attracting internationally renowned scientists and researchers, as well as local and foreign students, he said.
"Of particular importance and tangible confirmation of the policy we adopted", stressed President Anastasiades, "are, among other things, the recorded distinctions and high positions that our academic institutions receive in the university ranking systems by reputable international and European organizations, the fact that during the spring semester of the previous academic year more than 54,000 students studied in the Higher Education Institutions of Cyprus".
The presence of the Deputy Secretary of State of the United States of America for Educational and Cultural Affairs, also stressed by the President of the Republic, highlights in the most practical way the importance of the establishment of the American University and the support of the USA to make Cyprus an educational hub of the region.
"At the same time, it reflects the constantly upgrading relations between the two countries, which is now considered of strategic importance, either through bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas, such as the economy, energy, defence, humanitarian crisis management or through the participation of the US in trilateral schemes aimed at fulfilling our common goals in the eastern Mediterranean to achieve peace, security and stability, on the basis of international law and good neighbourly relations'.
The U.S. Secretary of State spoke in her speech about a historic day for the American University of Beirut, Cyprus and the USA.
"The bilateral relationship between our governments is strong, as is the relationship between the American people and the people of Cyprus," he pointed out. "The interpersonal ties between the citizens of the United States and Cyprus are fundamental to our successes in various areas of cooperation. Academic and professional exchange programs allow us to expand our common values, common security, and shared well-being."
The United States, stressed Mrs. Satterfield, they are fully committed to international education supporting Cyprus' goal of becoming an educational hub in Europe and AUB's goal of becoming a truly international institution, he concluded.
The Mayor of Pafos, Phaedon Phaedonos, in his address stressed that the night of April 8, 2022 is historic and will be recorded in the calendar of this small Mediterranean city as one of the most important milestones in its historical course of 2,400 years.
"The arrival of the American University of Beirut in Paphos," he said, "now places us on the world map of university education. There are few universities around the world that have the tradition, the history and the influence that this University has.''
