The collaboration will encourage exchange of students in research and education and various collaborative research projects have been identified by the two institutions. The memorandum of understanding entails that there will be an exchange of academic staff members for the purpose of research, establishment of joint research programmes, exchange of students (undergraduate and postgraduate), and the exchange of material on the most relevant and topical research undertaken by researchers of both institutions.

The Rector of Tbilisi State University, Alexander Kvitashvili, said the University of Pretoria was among the three tertiary institutions they are collaborating with in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. His main focus was to encourage PhD and postgraduate research in the field of science and education between the two institutions.

Kvitashvili said he was fascinated by the University of Pretoria’s international relations expertise of grooming diplomats through its Department of Political Science. He also lauded local schools of Engineering, Information Technology, Humanities and Education, which would be an integral part of collaborative research projects his institution would participate in with the University of Pretoria.

For her part Prof. De la Rey welcomed this collaboration which coincides with the 20^th bilateral relationship between South Africa and Georgia.

“One of the collaborative projects identified is the new capital city project launched by the Faculty of Humanities. This collaboration also extends to city to city relations between Pretoria and Tbilisi as Georgia’s capital,” said Prof De la Rey.

The Ambassador of Georgia in South Africa, the Honourable Beka Dvali, has also reiterated that his country and South Africa have not only developed strong ties with academic institutions, but there are also state-to-state ties which have been solid over a number of years.