From the joint work between the public area and the private area, the educational and academic bodies linked to the language field increased more than 100% the receptive, added a new administrative headquarters of CELU exam (Certificate of Use of Language in Spanish) in Singapore and they also agreed on joint actions with Brazil, among other results.

Argentine Export Certification

In the framework of the interest in the export promotion of non-traditional services, this policy had its achievements. In this sense, Estela López Favre, Director of the Center for Spanish as a Foreign Language of the National University of Villa María (UNVM), said:

“We have obtained a very important result in Singapore, that is to say, the setting up of an administrative headquarters of the Certificate of Spanish Language and Use (CELU). This achievement means that in that country students of Spanish can certify knowledge of Spanish as a foreign language with an international examination. This is the result of the joint work and the support of 39 Higher Education Institutions of Argentina that are part of the Interuniversity Consortium (ELSE), among which is the National University of Villa María (UNVM).” 

López Favre regarded this action as “very important” because “from our national universities, teachers assess and certify the use of the language in various strategic centers worldwide such as Singapore.” Likewise, she admitted that they are working with an educational entity from China “in order to analyze the possibility of having an Evaluation Office in that strategic destination.”

Commercial Promotion to Strategic Destinations

In relation to the work of Commercial Promotion that is being jointly performed with ProCórdoba Agency, López Favre said:

“Missions were carried out to different places of Brazil. This meant the link with around 23 universities from the neighbouring country. First, we focused our attention on Brazil because we thought of the 200 million Brazilians, potential users of Spanish in the MERCOSUR project of Linguistic and Cultural Integration. Moreover, there is a good cost-benefit ratio and the proximity and the good connectivity play an important role.”

The Director of the Center for Spanish as a Foreign Language of UNVM admitted that from the beginning of this joint work, missions have been carried out “setting clear objectives” and in these international events, actions were performed in other destinations such as Europe and United States. 

From Córdoba Tourism Agency, Adrián Bozzoletti, Coordinator of Academic and Linguistic Tourism, explained:

“For us the result is very positive because we are still well-known abroad because of the work of promotion carried out during these years. Today, when we go to Brazil or other important destinations for the sector, Córdoba is well-known; people know about our universities.”

For nearly a decade, ProCórdoba Agency has organized events of international trade promotion which have been agreed with the sector. About these actions, López Favre highlighted: 

“The fairs are attended by those who are interested in internationalizing, by all the world's leading service providers of languages. Not only do you attend a fair but you also go out into the world. This is impressively effective.”

Receptive Tourism Linked to The Teaching of Spanish

The results obtained from this work show that the number of foreigners who study Spanish in Córdoba has increased over 100 percent from 2007 (With an influx of 2051 students) to 2013 (with 4448 international students).

Among the destinations that are interested in Córdoba to study Spanish, Brazil ranks first and it is followed by Germany and the United States. These are countries that rank second year to year.

Given this reality, López Favre recognized the importance of the ongoing work and the prospects for the future:

“The result of our internationalization is our language promotion and the incorporation of users of other languages. This is an important step forward and a major challenge for the future. Another important challenge is working in favour of the conception that Spanish, as spoken language in most of Latin American countries, gives prestige to Latin American institutions that are involved in teaching, assessing and accrediting it. These are activities that were always present in the field of the Spanish institutions."