Pakistan to Host University Vice Chancellors’ Forum for Islamic Countries
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
Pakistan is preparing to host university vice-chancellors from across the Islamic world next month in Islamabad. The Vice Chancellors’ Forum, scheduled from February 4 to 7, will bring together over 150 academic leaders from member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to foster collaboration in higher education.
The announcement came as the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed extended an invitation to officials from Somalia. A Somali delegation, led by Minister of Education Farah Abdulkadir and Ambassador Sheikhnur Mohamed Hassan, visited the HEC Secretariat on Monday to discuss avenues for enhancing academic ties.
The delegation included senior officials from Somalia’s Ministry of Education and advisers from the Somali Embassy. Both sides explored opportunities to strengthen higher education systems and discussed collaborative projects in agriculture, IT, and quality assurance.
Dr. Ahmed highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to increase scholarship opportunities for students from Muslim countries, noting the success of the Afghan Student Scholarship Program.
He also introduced “Ilm-Bank,” a virtual platform aimed at connecting higher education institutions in OIC countries, enabling cross-border education and research collaborations.
The Somali delegation expressed keen interest in partnering with Pakistan to advance educational initiatives benefiting both nations.
Reference link:- https://propakistani.pk/2025/01/14/pakistan-to-host-university-vice-chancellors-forum-for-islamic-countries/
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
