Each uni 'contributes to global vision'

(ANSA) - Udine, June 29 - Jean Chambaz, the president of Paris's Pierre et Marie Curie University, told the G7 University event in Udine Thursday that all higher education institutions can help create a global vision. "The G7 is an extraordinary opportunity to exchange experiences and to find out what other universities do to address the challenges that we all have in front of us at the global level," said Chambaz, a member of G7 table 4 on 'University and Economic Development'. "Each university can make a contribution to the construction of a global vision, even if each one faces different problems and situations, and it is fundamentally important to know what solutions each institution is working on". The university chief talked about how higher education can be a driving force for economic development. "As a recent study by the Biggar agency showed, universities are already an important driver of social and economic development," he said. "The political institutions and decision-makers must realise this. "The study, which focuses on the impact of universities on the European economy, showed that for each euro invested in higher education, six are generated for economic development and for each job created at universities, six more are created as a consequence. "By linking research, innovation and education, universities are an integrator for the economic development of Europe and of the individual countries," Chambaz concluded. "They provide society with qualified experts and, at the same time, they develop knowledge and transfer it to society and the production system, giving an essential contribution to economic growth".