On Sunday, April 19, 2015, An-Najah received Mr. Pascal Smith, Belgian Minister of Transportation and of Public Work and along with delegates from the University of Brussels and UN Habitat.

 The visit aimed at reinforcing mutual cooperation between An-Najah and the Belgian government institutions and benefiting from the Belgian experience in the field of transportation and public works. It also aimed at strengthening academic and cultural ties between Palestinian and Belgian Universities.  

Professor Maher Natsheh, Acting President of An-Najah, briefed the guests on An-Najah’s programs and faculties as well as its local and international projects.

In turn, Mr. Smith spoke of the Belgian experience in the field of transportation and public works and the significance role of sustainable urban planning in this experience. He also talked about his vision to develop the public transportation systems in major cities of Belgium with complicated infrastructure. He went on to speak of the role of infrastructure in diminishing environmental pollution as a standard to develop the public transportation systems at Europe.

Notes:

-      Mr. Smith's session talk took place at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.

-      The meeting was also attended by Mr. Frank Dohndt from the UN Habitat and Dr. Kobe  Boussauw, from Vrije University, Brussel, as well as Dr. Khaled Al-Sahili, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, Head of the National Urban Planning Office-Palestine and Dr. Kope Bouffauw from Vrije University at Brussels.