Sonia Roca CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC – ECUADOR (UPACIFICO)

How is education at the university aligned with the country’s objective to promote exports, especially toward the Asia Pacific region?

Our university began as a business school in 1994, and as our name, University of the Pacific, reflects, our focus was to help the country take advantage of its comparative advantages and its maritime location by looking toward the Pacific and beyond. At the time of its foundation, we were pioneers in training entrepreneurs, bringing maritime disciplines to the core of the internationalization of the Ecuadorian economy through high-level education. For example, former Trade Minister Pablo Campana is an UPACIFICO alumni, and he opened the door for Ecuador’s trade deals with regional neighbors of the Pacific Alliance. Other alumni have established companies that regularly export Ecuadorian products to Asia and yet others have set up consulting firms to promote Ecuadorian business to China. Some 37% of our graduates are entrepreneurs, with several having opened their companies in the export industry. To complement this work, we established the Asia Pacific Research Center at the same time the university was established in 1997. This center has played an important role in developing active and strategic relations with universities in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and raising awareness of the opportunities in the region. One high-level meeting by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) was held at our university, and we carried out extensive research on the potential adhesion of Ecuador.