This week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru and the Norbert Wiener University announced the creation of the Peruvian Studies Center – Arabian Gulf with the intention of expanding knowledge about said region and identifying opportunities for collaboration in different areas.
LOOK: What are the “red lines” in the ceasefire negotiations between Iran and the United States?
The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Jorge Raffo Carbajal, general director of Africa, the Middle East and Gulf countries; Olga Horna Horna, executive president of the university; Alberto Bejarano Heredia, rector of the institution and Delia Muñoz, dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, who will assume the executive presidency of the brand new center.
Ambassador Raffo highlighted that the alliance, created in just six months, is a joint declaration of “the shared vision we have to strengthen the relationship with the Gulf countries, sustained by knowledge, education and cultural exchange.”
The platform, he added, will facilitate dialogue between institutions and specialists, “providing inputs that not only explain reality but also contribute to transforming it.”
In conversation with The Commercethe diplomat also highlighted “the commitment of the embassies of the Gulf states in Lima, which have permanently supported the initiative because they perfectly understand that it will contribute to a deepening of our bilateral, political, economic and cultural relations.”
Muñoz explained to this newspaper that the center will have representatives from five of the six countries that make up the Arabian Gulf. “These are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. We will do the articulation through academic spaces. Initially we will have a cultural approach thanks to an alliance with the University of Islamic Studies of Mexico, which will continue through the representations of each country with the support of the Foreign Ministry,” he specified.
Ambassador Raffo added that from Torre Tagle the first stage of the center will have three products. “The first is an interdisciplinary diploma course on history and anthropology of the countries of the Arabian Gulf, secondly the Arabic language courses through the language center of the Norbert Wiener University and thirdly the publication of a bimonthly newsletter that proposes topics of interest to build a solid relationship,” he noted.
The director of the Center for Asian Studies of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Carlos Aquino, present during the event, highlighted in dialogue with The Commerce the creation of the first center of this type in the country.
“With 22 countries and nearly 500 million inhabitants, the Arab world is undoubtedly an important economic, political and social actor. It seems incredible that until now we have not had a center like this in the country. Furthermore, I believe that the conflict that is currently developing in said region drives Arab countries to seek to stand out as a unified bloc, beyond the already known economic importance,” said the academic.
Aquino also highlighted how teaching the Arabic language will contribute to strengthening relations with Peru at all levels. “Economics is a social science, it is not an exact science. If you do not know the language, culture or society of the other you cannot do business. That is why I consider that it will be a great contribution on a political, economic and I hope also academic level, with young people who can go to study there,” he concluded.
