On May 25^th, An-Najah University held a ceremony celebrating the KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) support that is presented to the University-based Korean-Palestinian IT Institute of Excellence. This year, An-Najah received a fund and support from KOICA in South Korea that included computers, laptops, UPS devices, sound system for the conferences room, in addition to video conference systems.

Attendees to the celebration included An-Najah President, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, His Excellency, Ambassador Chungnam Park, Head Representative Office of the Republic of Korea to Palestine, Mr. Sangback Lee, KOICA representative in Palestine, Engineer Khaled Barham, Director of the Korean-Palestinian IT Institute of Excellence, in addition to a number of Faculties’ Deans and Heads of Departments at An-Najah.

In his speech, Prof. Hamdallah welcomed the Korean Ambassador and the accompanying delegation to An-Najah and said: “We are gathered here to celebrate the generous support that the University has received from the people of the Republic of Korea through the International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)”. We are exceedingly grateful for your generous support and cooperation”.

Moreover, the President mentioned that over the last few years, An-Najah University has been able to accomplish momentous strides in many areas and that the efforts of the University’s staff in the field of technical experience development has enabled the University to become among the best universities in Palestine and among the most prestigious in the region. He added that the University was able to achieve great development thanks to the support that its received and receives from its friends around the world, including the Republic of Korea. He also hoped that the relationship and cooperation between Palestine and Korea would continue to flourish in the future so as to achieve greater developments and success.

Prof. Hamdallah also pointed out that An-Najah University does not only provide its services to its students, but to the local society as well, especially that the local society in Nablus is among the most economically distressed societies in Palestine. Moreover, he explained that ever since its establishment, the Korean-Palestinian IT Institute of Excellence has played a vital role in empowering and educating the Palestinian society.

The importance of this Institute stems out from the fact that it is currently operates at maximum potential so as to offer services to the students and the society alike. Based on the scale of success that An-Najah has achieved through this facility, Prof. Hamdallah pointed out that the University has already forged plans that would utilize expansion of the facility through adding a new floor to it to increase services and provide measurable results. Through conducting such improvements and developments and the continuous cooperation between the University and Korea, the Korean-Palestinian Institute will have unparalleled and limitless potentials.

Mr. Park congratulated the University on the new equipments it received for its Institute and emphasized that the Republic of Korea will continue its cooperation with Palestine.

Engineer Barham explained the main capabilities of the Korean-Palestinian IT Institute of Excellence and stressed the importance of updating the equipments and devices that the Institute has so that it can resume its mission in serving the students and the society.

The Korean-Palestinian IT Institute of Excellence is located at the University’s New Campus six years ago through a generous support from the Republic of Korea and was equipped by KOICA to serve as a training center in the field of technology.