"Thanks to stronger bilateral relations over the past eight years, we saw a fivefold increase in the number of young Ecuadorians admitted to Russia's prestigious universities in the last eight years," the diplomat said in an interview.
Zavala reiterated that education is top priority for the government of Ecuador, adding that 13 percent of the country's GDP is spent on education, which is the is the highest proportion among Latin American countries.
"I would point my attention to political scientists with good command of the Russian language who would be able to maintain the development of relations between our countries," Zavala stressed.
In addition, the diplomat said that cooperation between Quito and Moscow in the field of education should expand into science and technology, including joint projects in space, pharmaceutics and nanotechnology.
In light of slumping relations with the West in 2014 over the crisis in Ukraine, Moscow has significantly increased its economic, trade and other cooperation with the countries of Latin America, BRICS and Asia-Pacific region.
