11 December 2015 at 9:00 am
NZ universities seek closer ties with Latin America
A Universities New Zealand delegation comprising representatives from AUT, VUW and Massey universities visited Latin America from 18-30 November. They visited Bogota and Medellin in Colombia, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Sao Paulo in Brazil and Chile’s capital Santiago.
The visit built on the universities delegation which accompanied Minister Joyce on his visit to the region in April this year.
The clear takeaway from the visit was that Colombian, Brazilian and Chilean universities are very open to establishing agreements and developing joint activities with New Zealand counterparts. Specific projects discussed were student and academic mobility (in both directions), organisation of workshops with researchers, double degree programmes, partnerships to fund sandwich or full PhDs and regular webinars to provide specific information on NZ education offerings.
Meetings with agents, particularly in Brazil and Colombia, revealed an increase in the number of enquiries on tertiary education options. Agents provided very positive feedback on NZ post-study and pathway visas making NZ more attractive for tertiary education students. However, initiatives such as the EU Schengen States announcing visa free access to Colombian students from 1 December 2015 are likely to have an impact on the numbers continuing to choose New Zealand.
Javiera Visedo, ENZ Market Development Manager, ordinarily based in Santiago, is currently on a six month secondment in Bogota. Lisa Futschek, ENZ Regional Director for the Americas, Japan and Korea, says “We are keen to explore first-hand the market potential in Colombia. Indications are very positive that this is a growth market for us. But we need to significantly raise NZ’s profile and highlight NZ’s world-class education offerings, and that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment. The opening of a NZ Embassy in Bogota will provide a further springboard from which to continue raising awareness of New Zealand.”
Julia Innocente-Jones, Director Victoria International, says “This visit has reinforced the many very real opportunities for NZ universities in Latin America. Colombia in particular holds exciting potential for us. We have made good in-roads in 2015 in beginning to establish the all-important relationships with our counterparts in-market. We now need to devise a strategic plan to continue developing these relationships in 2016 and beyond.”
In addition to following up on the visit, key touch-points for NZ universities in Latin America in 2016 will be the ENZ March roadshow of marketing events, and LACHEC (Latin America and Caribbean Higher Education Conference) is being hosted in Bogota from 12-14 October. LACHEC organisers are open to hosting a delegation from NZ, including a keynote speaker for the Conference.
For information on specific outcomes to the visit, please contact:
