Educational exchanges to boost between Pakistan, Malaysia

Pakistan High Commissioner to Malaysia, Masood Khalid has called for intensifying academic exchanges and educational linkages between Pakistan and Malaysia to boost people-to-people contacts.
“We value such linkages in fostering brotherly relations and bringing people of both countries closer to each other and I am happy to tell you that already 11 MoUs and agreements have been signed between leading academic institutions of both countries and this cooperation is set to grow in the future,” he said in a speech to the inaugural Ambassadors Summit organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) at George Town in the Penang state of Malaysia.
The two-day summit brought together Malaysia-based Ambassadors, High Commissioners and education attaches from 13 countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, France, Thailand, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Iraq, Argentina, to the Dewan Budaya USM to discuss ways for fostering strategic cooperation between local higher learning institutions and foreign embassies, particularly in international research.
Pakistan High Commissioner gave an overview of the education system in Pakistan, outlining various salient features and explaining different tiers of the system as well as the objectives it served. He particularly outlined uniformity in education, social cohesion, involvement of community and elimination of structural divides as the key features of education system in Pakistan. He also told the participants about the academic excellence achieved globally by reputed Pakistani universities such as LUMS, GIKI, FAST, COMSATS in the fields of research and learning.
The High Commissioner also underscored the growing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Malaysia and particularly referred to the trade and education sectors which had witnessed an upsurge in mutual cooperation. He said the presence of more than 3000 Pakistani students studying in Malaysian universities and 88 Pakistani scholars in the Universiti Sains Malaysia indicated the upward trajectory the cooperation and academic exchanges in the education sector were headed for.
Earlier, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Omar Osman welcomed the delegates of the summit and hoped the relationships between universities would be enhanced though information and advice coming from the embassies and high commissions of countries which enjoyed bilateral relations with Malaysia.
The two-day conference also discussed current issues, including the welfare of foreign students at universities in Malaysia.