Harare (New Ziana)–Financial services institution Stanbic Bank has facilitated a mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship between two leading Zimbabwean and Chinese universities.
Stanbic Bank arranged the introductions between the University of Zimbabwe and Zhenjiang University, which culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The five-year tenure MoU between the UZ Faculty of Medicine and Health Services (UZ-FMHS) and Zhenjiang University International School of Medicine (ZJU-ISM) is aimed at fostering scholarly activities and international collaboration.
It will provide a framework through which the two educational institutions can establish and develop a cooperative relationship in pursuit of a number of objectives, which include mobility of faculty and/or staff, mobility of graduate and/or undergraduate students, as well as joint research activities and publications.
The objectives also include participating in seminars and academic meetings, exchanging academic materials and other information as well as establishing short-term academic programs.
Speaking at the signing of the MoU, Stanbic Bank head of business and commercial banking, Patson Mahatchi, said the financial institution was pleased to continue contributing significantly towards driving Africa and in particular Zimbabwe’s growth across all sectors.
Mahatchi said the partnership between the UZ and ZJU-ISM was beneficial, especially regarding capacity building, and would contribute significantly towards achieving Education 5.0 goals for the UZ.
“One of our strengths as a financial services institution is our dedicated offering to the education sector, on the back of unparalleled experience in banking solutions in general,” he said.
The UZ-FMHS is an integral link to both the education and health sectors as it is a leading medical training institution in the country. Additionally, the role of academia in the health sector cannot be downplayed as the medical fraternity is underpinned by continuous research.
ZJU-ISM is rated 42 on the QS world rankings and is in China’s top three. It operates 37 colleges across seven campuses as well as a Class A rated hospital with a 1 200-bed capacity and performs approximately 30 000 surgeries annually.
The partnership will result in capacity building for the UZ-FMHS strategic projects such as the construction of a state-of-the-art medical specialists centre and quinary hospital. This is in line with international best practices whereby medical training universities also operate hospitals with the aim of increasing teaching and research opportunities for the students whilst improving access to and lowering medical costs for the communities in which they operate.
ZJU-ISM director for international affairs Xing Chen said the MoU would see the leading Chinese educational institution offering medicine and healthcare systematic solutions.
University of Zimbabwe Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Services (FMHS), Dr Fiona Makoni said the MoU gives both institutions opportunities for knowledge exchange through student and staff exchange, research collaborations, and tapping from the experience of the colleagues from Zhejiang in setting up and operating hospitals that service medical schools.
New Ziana
