“Silk Road” International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage students experienced their first international Zoom meeting with Japanese university students. This was an attempt to strengthen our tie through the exchange agreement with Wakayama University. We initially established an exchange partnership with them in 2019, however we could not take any action for the last three years due to the Covid-19 crisis.

When a Japanese language course was offered by teacher of Japanese language and culture at the “Languages” department, Dr Chiharu Tsurutani in September this year, the idea of sending our students with basic Japanese language skills prompted to reactivate our exchange relationship. Through a number of Zoom meetings organized by Dr Tsurutani and Feruza Akramova, a leading specialist of the International Cooperation and Rating Department, we reached to the current arrangement, sending two students a year for credit transfer towards their degree program. We are expecting to send two students to Wakayama and receive theirs in 2023.