A delegation from the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalisation of the University of Cadiz, led by the General Director for Language Policy, Javier de Cos, has recently visited several partner universities in Uzbekistan: the State University of World Languages (UELMU) in Tashkent, the Bukhara State University (UEB) and the Institute of Foreign Languages of Samarkand (ILES). The delegation was completed by Pilar de Castro Herrero, head of the International Relations Service, Jesús Rafael Gómez, PDI and PAS Mobility technician from the Internationalisation Office, and Andrés Santana, head of the International University Centre for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CUNEAC).

The basis of the collaboration of the UCA with these three universities is Spanish and, in fact, each of them has an assistant of our language. In Tashkent and Samarkand, the UCA delegation has verified in situ the good level of Spanish of the local teaching staff and students through poetry, theatre, music and dance performances. And in Bukhara, the foundations have been laid for the start of a powerful project for the teaching of Spanish.

After visiting their excellent facilities and meeting with their rectors, vice-rectors, deans, faculty and students, it has been agreed with the three partner universities to increase collaboration in several areas: double degrees, doctoral co-tutelage, student and staff mobility, teaching of UCA faculty in Uzbekistan as visiting professors and language exchange between Spanish students from the partner universities and Russian students from the UCA, through the CUNEAC.

In addition to all this, an agreement was reached with the rector of UELMU, Uluzbek Azizov, on the joint creation of a Spanish-Uzbek Language and Culture Centre, to be inaugurated in spring 2023. With UEB, the new Erasmus+ KA171 inter-institutional agreement has been signed. And with the rector of IELES, Ilkhomzhon Tukhtasinov, a specific student mobility agreement has been signed, which will complement the existing Erasmus+ mobility agreement.

Finally, the other main objective of this visit was also achieved: to agree on the details of the International Staff Week, which will be held in spring 2023 in Tashkent. UELMU and UCA are co-organising this meeting between their staff, open to the participation of specialists and technicians from universities throughout Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This initiative is supported by the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Madrid and the Spanish embassies in Moscow and Astana.

This visit has been carried out with European funding. In the Erasmus+ KA107 programme, the UCA has been the Spanish leader in number of partners and mobilities with the countries of the post-Soviet space, including Uzbekistan, since its beginning in the academic year 2015/16.