On December 12, the MCCI hosted the conference "Foreign students of Russian universities as a human resource for business".
Mr. Vladimir Platonov, the President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, opened the event with a welcoming speech He spoke about the role of the Chamber in cooperation with higher educational institutions. The Head of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry reminded that higher educational institutions have always had the task of not only to educate students, but also to create an opportunities for them to get an interesting job. Mr. Platonov emphasized that this is not only the task of educational institutions, but also the policy of the state. Mr. Platonov spoke about cooperation between the MCCI and the International Employers' Club, which he Heads.
Assistance in training in-demand specialists for business, in his opinion, is one of the most important tasks of the Institute of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. "We communicate a lot with foreign partners extensively and make sure that great interest is aroused by the idea we have developed: companies send students coming to Russia to study and work, who will later become business representatives of these organizations.
After all, it is not easy to open a company's branch office in another country, while guiding a student who can become a springboard on which to start a lot of great and interesting work." The speaker set the task to develop a mechanism to create the most comfortable conditions "for the cultivation of good specialists and future entrepreneurs”.
The role of Rossotrudnichestvo in the realization of state policy in the sphere of export of Russian education was described by Mr. Pavel Shevtsov, the Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation. He cited statistics: 30 thousand foreign students from 175 countries come to the Russian Federation every year, to receive education at the country's best Universities.“We see that many students who want not just to come and study, but to stay in our country.”As a foreign policy agency, our task is to make sure that students come here, study and go home.
Because the provision of quotas for foreign students in our higher education system has always been perceived as an instrument of foreign policy, influenced by the Russian Federation.” said Mr. Pavel Shevtsov. He suggested discussing this topic in order to find a golden mean. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the Russian Federation, Mr. Mohamed Yongawo, spoke about the export of Russian education to African countries as a basis for the development of international business.
On the coordination of trade and economic support of business projects of international economic cooperation between Russia and Africa Mr. Igor Morozov, the Chairman of the Coordination Committee for Economic Cooperation with Africa, spoke about the coordination of trade and economic support for business projects, on international economic cooperation between Russia and Africa.
Mr. Igor Morozov, the Chairman of the Coordination Committee for Economic Cooperation with African Countries. "Africa for Russia -is the most powerful region of support at the diplomatic level (in the UN and other international organizations) and a huge market, which we left 30 years ago and to which we are now trying to return," said Mr. Morozov.
Then, the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation took place. After the signing, Mr. Mr. Morozov, the MGIMO’s Vice-Rector for Personnel Policy said that the issues of not only education, but also the employment of international students are "acute" today:
"We have been working on this for several years - not only within the University, but also within the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and with colleagues of the All-Russian Association of Career Centers.
Universities face the problem of not only employment, but also of referrals for internships. Because companies are afraid to get involved with foreigners to avoid problems with the internal affairs authorities. I hope we will work on this issue together," said Mr. Morozov.
It is necessary to clearly communicate what does Russian education meant to the African young people. Nowadays, there is also a fairly serious demand from Europeans who want to move to Russia with their families. Where should their children study?" - asked Mr. Korolev. He emphasized that integration of common opportunities is important: There are a lot of them, and our task is to connect them correctly".
On promotion of employment of foreign students and graduates, spoke Ms. Natalia Neporada, the Executive Director of the Association "International Club employers" Association.
The Director of the Graduate Relations Department of the Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Education "Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, named after Mr. Patrice Lumumba”, Ms. Anastasia Gurova made a presentation on "Prospects of cooperation with foreign alumni associations abroad in modern conditions".
The discussion "On the competitiveness of foreign students and graduates", which took place during the second part of the conference was moderated by Mr.Vladislav Mishchenko, the Advisor to the President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry on international activities. It was attended by invited experts: employers, representatives of ICCI country commissions, foreign diplomatic missions in the Russian Federation and the Center for Foreign Economic Cooperation of the RUDN.