The agreement with Portugal is the first of its kind between it and a Latin American country and the Colombian government hopes it will generate more “synergy between our businesses and professionals”.

“The signing of this important agreement is one step more toward the consolidation of our higher education internationalisation policy, that includes increasing academic mobility between Colombia and other countries,” said National Education Minister María Fernanda Campo. “In this case, moreover, Colombia has become the first Latin American country to sign an agreement of degree accreditation with Portugal.”

Degrees from nationally accredited Colombian universities will now be recognised as having the same academic value. Students will be able to pursue further education or employment without having to complete additional national requirements.

“Bogotá and Lisbon are perhaps the closest European and Latin American capitals so it’s geographically logical that we make the effort to coordinate,” said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

The agreement with Chile will see professional, Bachelors, Masters and doctoral degrees from accredited Chilean universities recognised in Colombia for a period of at least four years. Likewise, degrees from accredited Colombian universities, will be recognised in Chile for at least six years.

According to the ministry of education, higher education graduates have increased in Colombia over the past decade from 131,896 in 2002 to 258,183 in 2010.