Strengthening interregional partnerships at APAIE 2026

Obreal has returned to the annual APAIE (Asia-Pacific Association for International Education) Conference for the third time, hosted this year in Hong Kong. Welcoming over 2500 participants globally under the theme “Asia-Pacific Partnerships for the Global Good”, this conference has been an important forum for scanning internationalisation trends in Asia-Pacific, and for promoting Obreal’s work in connecting different Souths and Norths.

Cognisant of the fact that there is minimal African higher education institutions participation in APAIE, and in the interest of promoting Obreal’s support to the Interregional Dialogue Process on Education and Development, Obreal’s Director for Education Policy and Programs, Elizabeth Colucci, chaired a session on “New cooperation paradigms for internationalisation: Networks and Associations fostering South-South-North collaborations”.

Perspectives were shared by Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor at Simbiosis International University, Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities, and Mervan Bekkar, Executive Director of EAIE, notably on what prominent associations and network are doing to engage multi-laterally in new, focused, bottom up South-South (North) partnerships. The session was a follow-up to the session and reception held at APAIE New Delhi in February of 2025, which Obreal co-hosted with FICCI and Simbiosis International University.

Obreal also participated in the invite-only Brainstorming Meeting: “Debugging Systemic Barriers Hindering EU-Hong Kong Research and Education Cooperation”, an initiative organised by the CHERA/Faculty of Education at Hong Kong University (HKU), DAAD, and Y-Europe. Obreal welcomes and is pursuing deeper partnerships in the Asia-Pacific towards its shared vision, and looks forward to opening the 2026 Interregional Dialogue on Education and Development to this region.