# STATE VISIT TO ITALY
(Rome, 20-22 March 2017)
Reception of Gold Medal at the University of Rome Tor Vergata
# KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY H.E. PAUL BIYA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
Rome, 22 March 2017
The President of the Conference of Italian University Rectors, The Rector of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Eminent Members of the Italian Academic Community, Dear Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to thank you most sincerely for such a warm welcome to the prestigious University of Rome Tor Vergata. I also wish to express my profound gratitude to you for the Gold Medal the Conference of Italian University Rectors have awarded me. I am deeply touched by the very kind words you have spoken to me, my wife, and my country. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The high distinction you have just awarded me is a mark of honour for the Cameroonian people as a whole.
Indeed, through this action, the entire Italian academic community pays tribute to the efforts we are making in Cameroon to modernize our university system. We are doing so with serenity, while ensuring social harmony and the integration of all our endogenous national cultures.
We bear in mind the fruitful contribution of foreign cultures like that of your beautiful country. We are also concerned with promoting bilingualism (English and French), our historical heritage.
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Concerning your beautiful country, Italy, I am delighted to be here, near Bologna where the Bachelor–Master–Doctorate (BMD) system was born. I recall that the Heads of State of Central Africa – including me – formally adopted the BMD system on 11 February 2005 in Libreville. We are already reaping its visible fruits.
I will mention, among others:
- the professionalization of teaching,
- the acquisition of skills, and
- the development of the experience acquired.
Although we do not under-rate the dissemination of theoretical knowledge, we wish that such knowledge should be harmoniously mainstreamed into a new dynamic, namely:
- quality assurance,
- professional expertise, and
- the employability of graduates.
In this light, Cameroonian universities can be considered as a powerful driver of economic, social and technological development. It enables students to become responsible and useful citizens for their country, and even their sub-region; competent men and women who are capable of adapting to changes in their environment.
We will consolidate this option which is based on practical knowledge and digital education. We will, in particular, increase the number of business incubators in university institutions.
The aim is to teach students in all fields to start and manage business. Several “junior enterprises” have already been set up and are functioning, to the satisfaction of all.
Students are thus getting acquainted with their socio-economic mission of contributing to the emergence of Cameroon by 2035. They are expected to become increasingly efficient in a fiercely competitive world. They will be better equipped to effectively deal with the harsh realities of globalization.