An international conference on entrepreneurship and innovation system in Jordanian higher education, which brought together universities from the region and the world, kicked off on Monday at the Hashemite University (HU).
This three-day conference, organized by HU in cooperation with the Ta’ziz Science Cooperations 2023 – 2025, was attended by the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani (AUIS) and Germany’s Saarland University.
The Ta’ziz project, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), aims to evaluate and support the system of leadership and innovation in higher education in the Middle East and North Africa region. The three universities have previously been awarded with 370,000 euros as part of the three-year initiative.
During the opening ceremony, Vice President of HU Awni Itradat stated that the objective of the event is to leverage the academic networking platform that brings together a distinguished group of scholars, academics, and decision-makers to discuss the leadership and innov
ation system in Jordanian and Iraqi universities.
According to the director of the project at HU, Hadeel Maaitah, the aim of the project is to promote entrepreneurship in higher education institutions in Iraq and Jordan, due to society’s need for entrepreneurship to reduce high unemployment rates among individuals with higher education degrees, which currently stands at 42.5 percent. By creating new job opportunities in the private sector and building the capabilities of graduate students, the project will enable them to create job opportunities for themselves and others, she noted.
Nida Ul Habib Bajwa, the director of the project at the Saarland University, said the strategic partnership with Jordan and Iraq aims to promote the concepts of leadership and creativity among university students through training faculty members who will then pass on the knowledge to their students. The impact of the training will be significant and it highlights the importance of academic networking and international cooperatio
n between German and Arab universities for addressing vital and necessary issues, she added.
Source: Jordan News Agency