A Partnership Agreement signing ceremony was held at Addis Ababa University on March 30, 2018. Professor Tassew Woldehanna, President of Addis Ababa University, and Professor Xu Fei, President of the Southwest Jiaotong University, signed the Partnership Agreement which set outs a particular frameworks of collaboration between African Railway Center of Excellence (ARCE) of Addis Ababa University and Southwest Jiaotong University of China. During the signing ceremony, Dr. Essayas G/Yohannes, Executive Director of Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT), Dr. Daniel Tilahun, Director of African Railway Center of Excellence (ARCE), Professor Dr. Jiang Jiuwen, Director of International Cooperation and Exchange Office of SWJTU, Professor Dr. Zuowan Zhou Director of Scientific Research Development Office of SWJTU and representatives of the World Bank Country Office attended the program.
The initial memorandum of understanding (MoU) between AAU and SWJTU was signed in April 2017 to establish student and staff exchange, academic degree programs and promote joint research projects in the Railway Engineering Programs.
Thus, this Partnership Agreement aims to identify the best ways to address future challenges in the railway industry, particularly in the leading-edge field of Railway Engineering. Moreover, this agreement paves the way for potential upcoming cooperation in several areas of activities between the two parties. The Southwest Jiaotong University is one of the oldest and leading university in China in the field of Transportation Engineering. On the other hand, Addis Ababa University is the oldest and the first higher institution in Ethiopia that hosts the African Railway Center of Excellence by the World Bank project.
The collaboration between the Addis Ababa University and Southwest Jiaotong University is based on several common goals: strengthening links between the world railway academia and industry, transferring knowledge and skills across borders and also supporting students and young PhD students in their railway research projects.