A partnership between Iowa State and a school in Cairo, Egypt, is educating students to help reform the economic system in Egypt.

The program is set up between ISU and the Higher Institute for Agricultural Cooperation in Cairo. ISU’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development Co-Director Stan Johnson said the purpose of the program is to educate instructors in Egypt about a Western-style of agribusiness.

This fall, two students, Tarek Selim and Sherif Fayyad, are taking part in the program.

“They are doctoral students here. When they have graduated, they are obligated to spend a certain amount of time as faculty at the HIAC,” Johnson said.

Next year, a reciprocal program will be started, allowing students from Iowa State to go study at HIAC.

“The coop program is for undergrads in the college of agriculture and business, and for master’s students in business, agriculture and economics and MBA students in business,” Johnson said. The courses in Egypt will be taught in English.

Selim and Fayyad are both studying economics at Iowa State. Selim had attended American University in Cairo and Harvard. He was an assistant lecturer at HIAC before coming to ISU.

Fayyad had studied at Cairo University and was a research assistant at the Desert Research Center’s Socioeconomic Division. He was also an assistant lecturer at HIAC.

Johnson said that the program is being funded on the Egyptian end through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture. He said the total cost of the program is about $18 million.