ATHENS — The promotion of the bilateral cooperation between Greece and the USA in the field of higher education and the offer of opportunities to talented Greeks who stand out in our public universities were at the centre of a video conference held on Monday afternoon. Emphasis was placed on the multifaceted cooperation of Greek institutions with 27 top universities in the United States.

"In our public universities there are a lot of talented people with great value and potential," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during the video conference. The prime minister stressed that after July 7, 2019, "the first thing we had to do was to open the world for these people, strengthening the international presence, and essentially giving them the opportunity to establish partnerships with foreign institutions."

Θέλουμε να προσφέρουμε στους ταλαντούχους νέους και νέες της Ελλάδας την ευκαιρία να σπουδάσουν σε ελληνικά δημόσια πανεπιστήμια που είναι ανοικτά στον κόσμο και παρέχουν πρόσβαση σε διεθνείς εμπειρίες. Τηλεδιάσκεψη με 27 κορυφαία πανεπιστήμια των ΗΠΑ. https://t.co/6OyNfYapbNpic.twitter.com/yJ7io7XGxr

— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) June 16, 2020

The video conference took place as part of a cooperation program launched last September by the Ministry of Education and Religions and the Institute of International Education (IIE) that aims to support the cooperation of American and Greek universities and pave the way for long-term synergies such as joint educational programs and participation of foreign students in English summer programs, exchange of students and other forms of cooperation.

"US universities are expected to show interest in Greece in terms of developing partnerships, not only because it makes perfect sense to study a number of subjects in Greece, such as ancient Greek, history and archeology, but also because Greek universities are institutions of very high quality," Mitsotakis said.

All Greek universities (whose representatives participated in the video conference) and 27 leading American universities, including members of the famous Ivy League, which includes the best universities in the world, participate in the program.

"This is just a reflection of our broader interest in offering talented young people in Greece better opportunities to study at Greek universities, that they will not be isolated, but they will be open to the world and will provide them with the greatest possible access to international experiences," the prime minister said.