On 15 April 2019, during his working visit to Erbil, Dr. Martin Smolek, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, together with Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department of the Kurdistan Regional Government and representatives of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Kurdistan Regional Government, opened the first building of the Czech Academic City in Erbil at the Grand Opening Ceremony.
The Czech Academic City project, including the Technical University of Ostrava in Erbil (TUO-Erbil Campus), is the first project of its kind and the first European university complex in the Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq. The project of Czech Academic City in Erbil – CZAC is the umbrella education facility that encompass daughter campuses and faculties of Czech universities which are bringing a European higher education standards with full accreditation of the involved Czech universities. CZAC / TUO-Erbil Campus offers education in the field of building and petroleum engineering, medicine and art. The intention of CZAC is also to provide facilities for cooperation in science and research, including facilities for further cooperation of Czech companies.
The new CZAC building is an extension of the TUO-Erbil Campus complex, which was inaugurated by Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir and Minister of Higher Education
and Research of the Kurdish Regional Government of Yusif Goran in May 2018.
In the academic year 2018/2019, there are 200 students in zero grade at TUO-Erbil Campus / CZAC. During 2018 and at the beginning of 2019, the Palacký University in Olomouc, which took over the role of leader of the entire project, and Charles University in Hradec Králové (pharmacy faculty) joined the project named from now on the Czech Academic City in Erbil.
Deputy Minister Dr. Martin Smolek also met with Czech professors and lecturers from the Technical University of Ostrava and Palacky University in Olomouc teaching at Czech Academic City and Dr. Pavel Spirov, Rector of TUO-Erbil Campus to discuss the outlook for the development of CZAC, the expected numbers of students and the study programs of individual universities and faculties.

The CZAC project is a model example of the development of cooperation between the Czech Republic and Iraqi Kurdistan in the field of education.