RIYADH, 9 September 2007 — Saudi Arabia and Germany have set out a new vision of bilateral relationship in the field of education and culture following the departure of a Saudi educational delegation to Germany and the announcement of an ambitious program to start teaching of German language courses in the Kingdom. The move to intensify educational and cultural cooperation will boost Saudi-German relations further.
Tobias Krause, a German Embassy spokesman, said yesterday that the cooperation program begins with “the new series of German language courses scheduled to start this fall.”
“We are also currently working together with the Ministry of Education to raise the number of Saudi students in Germany,” said Krause, adding that separate German language courses for men and women will begin on Oct. 21.
The course fee of SR1,000 will cover the cost of 48 German lessons and also advanced learning material. Krause, first secretary and head of the cultural section at the German Embassy, called on the interested persons to visit the website at www.riad.diplo.de for further details and information.
Referring to the ongoing visit of the delegation from Saudi Ministry of Higher Education, Krause said: “The two sides will discuss ways of strengthening cooperation between Saudi universities and colleges and various German institutions of higher learning.”
He said that more Saudi students would be enrolled for higher education in German institutions during the forthcoming sessions.
“Also, cultural relations are further intensified,” said Krause, adding that a number of programs organized during the EU’s German presidency have strengthened the cultural relations between the Kingdom and Germany on the one hand and between Germany and the Arab countries on the other.
To this end, he noted that a high-profile symposium recently organized by the Riyadh-based King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and the German Embassy on “Mutual perceptions of Europe and the Arab World from 1450 to the present” gave a major boost to the bilateral cultural ties. The event was organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of what today is known as the European Union.
