JEDDAH: Germany is looking for promoting increased interaction with Saudi Arabia in education and training. “We want many more Saudi students to pursue their higher education in Germany and are willing to offer vocational training to them,”
Ernst Pfister, minister of economic affairs of the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, told Arab News in an interview on Wednesday night.
Pfister, who toured Riyadh and Jeddah with a 30-member delegation that he headed, said he had meetings with Minister of Economy and Planning Khaled Al-Gosaibi and Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen during the delegation’s three-day visit to Riyadh. The visitors also had meetings with Technical and Vocational Training Corporation Gov. Ali Alghafees, as well as top officials from the environment and medical sectors. “We discussed with the ministers our expertise in the fields of water and engineering technologies, as well as our specialty in providing technical and vocational training,” he said.
“We also impressed on the ministers and officials that Germany was interested in seeking more Saudi students for pursuing their higher education in Germany. Only about 220 Saudis are among Germany’s overseas students at present,” the minister said, adding that the country offers various courses in English.
“We will be signing some memorandums of understanding with various Saudi authorities next year, which will form the basis for entering into future joint ventures,” Pfister said. “We are also looking forward to form ventures in medical and environment
protection fields,” he said.
On the economic front, he said, Germany is interested in strengthening its strategic partnership with the Kingdom. “Germany has been following a dynamic economic policy and will remain strong until the end of 2009, despite the current economic crisis worldwide,” he said.