The official opening ceremony of the Xırdalan King Sejong Institute has been held at Baku Engineering University (BEU).

Hyunjin Yang, INHA Project Director of BEU-INHA DDP, delivered a presentation on the history of the Institute. He said that the official opening ceremony of the Institute, which began operating in September 2020, did not take place due to the current pandemic. The head of the department stressed that the purpose of establishing the Institute was to teach and promote the Korean language and culture, as well as to help teachers and students to fully integrate.

Rector of BEU, Professor Havar Mammadov said that a dual degree program has been implemented between BEU and INHA University within the "State Program on Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Higher Education System in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2023" approved by the Order of President Ilham Aliyev. Recalling the training specialits in 4 specialties - Information Technology, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electronics Engineering, the Rector spoke about the importance of the program. Noting the wide range of opportunities created for students by dual degree programs, Havar Mammadov touched upon the works done in this direction.

Havar Mammadov highly appreciated the establishment of the Xırdalan King Sejong Institute at the University as one of the directions of the cooperation agreement signed between BEU and Inha University of Korea, and added that the institution would play an important role in teaching Korean language and culture.

The head of the King Sejong Institute, Professor Kim Jong Ho congratulated the participants on the opening ceremony. Emphasizing the need for cooperation between Korea and Azerbaijan in terms of language and culture, Kim Jong Ho expressed his confidence that the organization established to promote the Korean language and culture would further develop relations between INHA and BEU.  

Adviser to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Korea to Azerbaijan Jeon Wann Yeal noted that the opening of the Institute coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Korea. He stressed that the opening of the Institute would contribute to the promotion of the Korean language and culture, as well as serve as a bridge between Azerbaijan and Korea.

Nijat Mammadli, head of the Department of Science, Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Ministry of Education, said that the King Sejong Institute had more than 200 centers in about 80 countries. Speaking about the "State Program on Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Higher Education System in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2023" adopted by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the intensive works done in this direction, N. Mammadli noted that the dual degree program between BEU and INHA was one of the most successful projects in the field of engineering. The ministry official told the participants that the program would play an important role in training highly qualified personnel for the labor market, as well as in improving the quality of the higher education system in Azerbaijan.

At the end, a symbolic plaque was unveiled, marking the official launch of the Xırdalan King Sejong Institute.

The event was attended by the head of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Azerbaijan, the head of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Azerbaijan and representatives of other Korean companies.

Public Relations Department