Ecuadorian president visits Qatar Foundation and explores possible collaborations

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) hosted the President of the Republic of Ecuador, His Excellency President Rafael Correa as part of his two-day state visit to Qatar.

The Ecuadorian Head of State and his delegation were welcomed to Qatar Foundation Visitor’s Centre by Engineer Saad Al Muhannadi, President of QF.  President Correa was then introduced to QF through a comprehensive presentation that detailed the many educational initiatives, community development plans and scientific research programmes being undertaken by the Foundation and its many centres.

Following the presentation, the delegation from South America was shown an impressive 3D scale model of the educational and research buildings.

“Qatar Foundation is extremely impressive,” observed President Correa. “This is a wonderful campus.  It represents a lot of dreams; dreams that are realistic, too. Qatar Foundation is remembering the past, while looking to the future.

“I think there is potential for collaboration between our countries as we are doing similar projects in Ecuador. We have Yachay University – ‘The City of Knowledge’ – an educational institution with housing and innovative facilities,” he added.

As the visit came to a close, President Rafael signed QF’s Visitors’ Book and was presented with an honorary gift. 

From the Visitor’s Centre, the President and his delegation moved to Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.  Located in Education City, it is one of the partner universities of QF member Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU). The party was given a tour of the facilities and learned more about the prestigious university’s innovative programmes in business administration, computer science and information systems.

The visit concluded with President Correa visiting the headquarters of Qatar Foundation Research and Development’s Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). Accompanied by Mr Hamad Al Kuwari, Director General of QSTP, the visiting delegation benefited from an in-depth look at the Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre and its activities, which include training programmes for surgeons, healthcare professionals and scientists, and the development of advanced surgical technologies.