La Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria, Servicios y Navegación de España (Spanish Chamber of Commerce) and Red de Fundaciones Universidad Empresa (REDFUE) have signed today a collaboration agreement to strengthen the link between the academic and business world, which has among its main objectives to boost the employability of university students.
The importance of this agreement lies in the establishment of a framework of joint collaboration between the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and REDFUE in order to maintain a line of mutual cooperation and to share activities of interest through participation in those committees and activities of the Chamber of Commerce of interest to REDFUE.
The main objectives of this collaboration are to bridge the gap between education and the world of work, to improve the university-business relationship, to promote innovation, to support the sustainable and competitive development of the Spanish economy and social development.
To this end, both institutions are committed to participate in those working committees of common interest and to develop activities and conferences that help to strengthen the social projection of universities and companies and their commitment to society, and to support any initiative that results in the improvement of higher education, the employability of university students and entrepreneurship within the framework of higher education.
For Adolfo Díaz-Ambrona, Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, ‘this agreement reflects and will accelerate the shared interests and objectives between the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and REDFUE, both working for the benefit of companies and students themselves. Improving higher education and the employability of university students, closing the mismatch between education and the world of work, is vital if we want to boost the competitiveness of the Spanish economy as well as its sustainable and social development’.
After signing the agreement, Fernando Martínez, president of REDFUE and executive vice-president of the FUE, recalled that ‘At REDFUE we have been working for more than 25 years with the commitment to help society progress using the tools provided by the collaboration between universities and companies. To this end, we rely on the boards of trustees of our associates, in which 47 Spanish universities and more than 300 companies and organisations are represented’. Furthermore, he added that ‘this agreement brings a series of strategic advantages for both institutions and not only strengthens the ties between the academic and business sectors, but also creates an environment conducive to innovation, improving the employability of our young people, entrepreneurship and social responsibility’.’