French connection presents opportunities for Canadian University of Dubai

The partnership begins at the end of March following a visit to Dubai from a delegation from Lyon this week.

The 47-strong delegation included the Mayor of Lyon, the Lyon Chamber of Commerce as well as industry leaders in education, culture and transport.

The delegation was hosted in Dubai by Buti Saeed Al Ghandi, Chairman of Emirates Investment and Development PSC and Chancellor of the Canadian University of Dubai.

The partnership begins with seven students from Dubai being paired with seven students from Lyon for a three-week course in Media Production. Two weeks of the course will be held at the Canadian University of Dubai in their industry-standard production studio and one week in Lyon at the studios of Lyon Capitale TV.

Dr. Karim Chelli, President of the Canadian University of Dubai, said, "As well as student exchange, we will be sharing best practice with Lyon, which has some of the best universities in the world."

"Our mandate is to create world citizens and this partnership not only represents an educational exchange, but also a cultural one that will benefit both cities and forms part of a wider collaborative approach that will develop in the coming months," he added.

Gerard Collomb, French Senator, Mayor of Lyon and President of the Greater Lyon Urban Community, said, "Before the crisis in 2008 we had a project to develop opportunities between our universities and the universities in Dubai. We can now explore the opportunities between the universities in the two cities and especially the Canadian University of Dubai."

"We have great universities in Lyon, we have 112,000 students from many different countries. For example, we have 5,000 students from China. That shows the attractiveness of Lyon," he added.

Mr Philippe Grillot, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lyon, said, "We know the Canadian University in Dubai and they know Lyon and it is easier to build something with known guys. We will work with Dubai and look at Universities, but the most important thing is to build a knowledge bridge between the two cities and exchange students and professors."