FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (12/1/04)

Contact Information:
Tony Wagner, ALO
Tel: 202-478-4704
E-mail: wagnera@aascu.org

ALO ANNOUNCES FIVE NEW USAID/MEXICO TIES PARTNERSHIPS
U.S. Ambassador Garza Praises Higher Education Partnerships

Washington, DC (December 1, 2004) – The Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development (ALO), in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Mexico, announces five new grant awards of up to $300,000 each under the U.S.-Mexico Training, Internships, Exchanges, and Scholarships (TIES) Initiative.

Praising the new partnerships, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio O. (Tony) Garza said, “These new academic partnerships promote economic development in Mexico’s rural areas by assisting this sector to become more competitive and to provide more economic opportunities.”

The partnerships selected for award are:

• Florida International University/University of California-Berkeley/Instituto de Geografia-Morelia/Universidad Autónoma de México/Centro de Investigación y Docencia Economicas will incorporate master's research in an on-going large-scale community forestry research project and expand faculty exchanges and research in Mexican rural development.

• New Mexico State University/Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua will address food production and small farm development, natural resource management and income production/marketing for nascent enterprises in the Sierra Tarahumara.

• The Pennsylvania State University/Universidad de Guanajuato will train Mexican graduate students in extension and applied research on the application of plasticulture techniques to boost rural incomes and protect the rural environment.

• University of California, San Diego/Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas/Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada will train professionals to build infrastructure and institutional capacity for microfinance and telecommunications programs to reduce poverty in rural Mexico.

• University of Wisconsin-River Falls/Instituto Tecnológica Agropecuario will increase Mexican institutional capacity in agribusiness development and management, market coordination/development and collective action.

This brings the total number of higher education partnerships under the TIES Initiative to 35.

ALO, established in 1992, assists the nation's six major higher education associations build their partnership with USAID and help their member institutions foster cooperative development partnerships with colleges and universities abroad. Uniquely positioned to promote the involvement of U.S. higher education in global development, ALO seeks to encourage international partnerships to address development goals. For more information about ALO, please visit: http://www.aascu.org/alo.

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