NAJAH 2013, the UAE’s major education, training and careers exhibition, is under way in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, minister of culture, youth, and community development, presided over the inauguration.

More than 160 international and local higher education institutions and employers looking to enroll thousands of UAE high school leavers and graduates are participating in the event at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.

The exhibition ends Thursday.

The exhibition is being held at a time when reports say that private Western higher education institutes are growing in the UAE at a rate of 15 percent annually, and also that 24 percent of the UAE’s total government expenditure is earmarked for the education sector — more than twice that of what European governments set aside for education.

The focus on the UAE higher education is considered as timely and important as 49,000 high school students graduate every year according to the UAE National Bureau of Statistics.

More than 15,000 students are expected to visit the show during its three-day run.

Organized by Informa Exhibitions, the event is now in its seventh edition and has been steadily growing every year since its inaugural edition in 2007.

“Higher education is growing exponentially in the UAE, reflecting a rapidly increasing local and expatriate population coupled with ambitious government objectives to develop a stronger knowledge economy,” said Khurram Saeed, exhibition director of NAJAH.

“The sector has an estimated market size of $7.31 billion, and the demand for universities and training institutions will continue to grow as more and more high school graduates and parents seek quality higher education options. This year NAJAH has attracted the largest participation of universities yet, not only from the UAE but also internationally.”

The UAE currently hosts 37 international university branch campuses more than any country in the world, many of which are participating in NAJAH, including University of Wollongong, Dubai; Heriot Watt University, New York; Institute of Technology, Abu Dhabi; and Manipal University, India.