MONTEVIDEO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay and the United States signed an academic agreement Tuesday to expand educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
"We have stressed regional integration. However, other kinds of exchanges as offered by the United States are needed as well," said Luis Garibaldi, education director of Uruguay's Education and Culture Ministry.
Uruguay promised to donate 60,000 U.S. dollars per year to the Fulbright Commission, which is responsible for international educational exchange programs, to facilitate academic exchanges among different countries.
Meanwhile, U.S. ambassador David Nelson said the agreement was prominent and one of the U.S. commitments was to support education.
He said about 1,000 Uruguayans and 1,600 Americans had been funded by the U.S.-Uruguay program, which was launched 50 years ago.
"The research on education, and mainly on learning a second language, is an essential part in the competitiveness at international level for any country," Nelson added.
As part of the program, 25 American students and professors went to Uruguay while 30 Uruguayans studied in the United States in 2010.
