The head of the Korean Representative Office to the Palestinian National Authority, H.E. Mr. Young-Sam Ma, visited An-Najah National University on Thursday, January 19, 2006. Mr. Ma was accompanied by his deputy Mr. Saeng Kim and Mr. Jong Ock Park representative of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). This is the first official visit for Mr. Ma to An-Najah and it is aimed to follow up on projects that the Korean government is financing at the university, especially the creation of a state-of-the-art Information Technology center in the new campus complex.
The Korean diplomats met and held discussions with Prof. Maher Natsheh Vice President of Academic Affairs, Prof. Sameer Abu-Eisheh President's Assistant for Planning and Development, and Dr. Nizar Awartani, the newly appointed director of the mentioned IT center, and Mr. Saed Abu-Hijleh Director of Public Relations.
Mr. Ma emphasized that supporting the creation of the IT center is the beginning of the cooperation with An-Najah and that the Korean government is keen to continue its support for An-Najah in the future. Prof. Natsheh thanked Mr. Ma and the Korean government for its generous support for the Palestinian people and expressed An-Najah University’s desire and readiness to foster cooperation with Korea in academic and cultural fields. At the end of the meeting, Prof Natsheh gave Mr. Ma the university plaque in an expression of appreciation for Korean support to Palestinian higher education and to An-Najah University.
The official meeting was followed by a tour of the IT center project site to observe progress on the ground. The center is scheduled to be opened in the spring of 2006.
After visiting An-Najah Mr. Ma paid an official visit to Nablus Municipality and met with its newly elected mayor and city council and discussed potentials for cooperation in the future.