CULTURAL DIPLOMACY IN ACTION: SIGNING CEREMONY FOR A COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN DFHI-ISFATES, HTW SAAR, UNIVERSITY OF LORRAINE, AND HITAS-CAMEROON

Wednesday, 6 August 2025 | 16:34 CESTWednesday, 6 August 2025 | 16:40 CEST Editorial Team

As part of academic cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and Cameroon, the private university institute HITAS (Hanseatic Institute of Technology and Applied Sciences) in Douala has signed a partnership agreement with the University of Lorraine, HTW Saar (Saarland University of Applied Sciences), and the Franco-German University of Saarbrücken (DFHI).

The formal signing ceremony took place in Saarbrücken on Friday, July 18, 2025, in one of the conference halls of HTW Saar, attended by numerous dignitaries, including:

Representatives of H.E. the Ambassador of Cameroon to Berlin
A delegate from the Ministry of Finance and Science of Saarland
A representative from the Saarland State Senate
The Vice President and Chairman of the Board of HTW Saar
The Director of DFHI
The Director of ISFATES
The Co-Director and Chairman of the Board of ISFATES
The President and Vice President of HITAS
And many other distinguished guests

This agreement strengthens an existing collaboration between the three universities in Saarland, Lorraine, and HITAS, which began in May 2022 at the initiative of Professor GRÜNWALD (Vice President of HITAS) and Professor KAMGA (President of HITAS). It ensures that students from all three countries receive training with identical curricula and profiles, aligning with Cameroon’s and European nations’ vision of further internationalizing higher education.

Speakers highlighted the innovative and unprecedented nature of this trilateral cooperation, which reflects not only dynamic scientific diplomacy in a globalized world but also the mutual respect between France, Germany, and Cameroon. Located on the border with France, Saarland has strategically positioned itself in recent years to foster Francophone partnerships, emphasizing the region’s linguistic, geographic, and economic appeal.

This newly formalized cooperation has already enabled four (4) HITAS students to study at the University of Lorraine for one academic year before continuing their education in Germany at ISFATES and HTW Saar in fields such as: