Monday, 25 May 2026
Egypt becomes first non-European country to lead internationalization workshop at EAIE 2025
Gothenburg, Sweden – In a groundbreaking move, Egypt has participated as the first country outside the European University Association in a special workshop on "Internationalizing Higher Education" at the 35th Annual European Association for International Education (EAIE 2025), held in Gothenburg, Sweden from September 10–12.
Dr. Ayman Ashour, Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, attended the prestigious event on the official invitation of the EAIE, joining thousands of global higher education leaders, including representatives from 900 universities and 1,000 research and educational institutions.
The EAIE conference is recognized as the largest gathering in Europe dedicated to fostering collaboration and innovation in higher education. Its platform promotes academic partnerships, the exchange of best practices in global education, and new avenues for research cooperation and quality assurance.
For the first time since its inception, the EAIE invited Egypt as the only country from outside the European University Association to lead a workshop focusing on the internationalization of higher education and research. This milestone reflects Egypt’s strengthening role in shaping educational policy both regionally and globally.
During a high-level panel discussion titled “Public Policies for Internationalizing Higher Education: Ministers’ Perspectives,” Dr. Ashour was joined by Susana Counte, Head of Higher Education Unit B1 at the European Commission, Graeme Dey, Minister for Further and Higher Education of Scotland, and Urban Kodrič, State Secretary at Slovenia’s Ministry for Higher Education, Science, and Innovation.
Dr. Ashour emphasized, “Internationalization in Egypt is a public service that broadens access, enhances quality, and provides tangible benefits to society. We are committed to expanding our global partnerships and making internationalization a cornerstone of Egypt’s national higher education and scientific research strategy.”
Highlighting tangible progress, Dr. Ashour announced that by the next academic year, Egypt will host 19 branches of foreign universities. These will include world-class institutions such as the University of Hertfordshire, Coventry University, the Universities of London and Central Lancashire, Prince Edward Island University, Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as Kazan and St. Petersburg Universities from Russia, and Nova University of Portugal—with 10 more branches set to open soon.
Egypt’s higher education ecosystem, he noted, comprises 28 public universities, 35 private universities, 32 national universities, 14 technological universities, and 10 universities established through special agreements, providing diverse learning opportunities for students at home and abroad.
Dr. Ashour also celebrated Egypt’s impressive performance in global university rankings: 13 Egyptian universities are among the world’s top 500 for pharmacy, six in the top 200 for dentistry, five among the top 500 for medicine and public health, with further appearances in top lists for engineering, mathematics, and agriculture.
He further highlighted the success of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank as an international model for knowledge-based economies, boasting partnerships with 16 global publishers and reaching over 3.2 million citations of Egyptian scientific articles worldwide.
Collaborative models were spotlighted, too. The minister praised the fruitful scientific and academic cooperation between Egypt and France, which recently yielded 42 agreements with French universities, 30 dual-degree programs in French, and 70 new academic partnerships. He hailed this as a blueprint Egypt is eager to replicate with countries across the globe.
Dr. Ashour expressed deep appreciation for the overwhelming international presence at EAIE 2025, underscoring such gatherings as vital opportunities for building strategic partnerships and transforming shared educational visions into real developmental initiatives that support sustainable growth in Egypt and the wider region.