JEDDAH, 5 April 2004 — Friday night saw an end to four days of universities and schools from every corner of the world clamoring to attract Saudi students to their institutions.
More than 150 exhibitors had elbowed each other at the Middle East Education and Training Exhibition & Symposium (MEETES ’04) to hustle for takers in this massive growth industry.
The expo had a modest separate section for women where 15 stands focused on vocational and educational training areas.
Besides the American Universities of Sharjah and other Gulf and Middle East countries, there were also exhibitors from European countries like Switzerland, Germany and France, as well as Antipodean institutions which have been aggressively tapping the vast Asian market of students in search of the quality education their home countries cannot provide.
Quality and affordability were the key, Swiss Consul General Urs Badertscher said, “to which we give a lot of importance.” Switzerland attracts some 100,000 students and trainees from all over the world each year.
Three academics from Germany had been pushing their country’s educational facilities. “Our goal is not only to promote higher education but also give exposure to our rich cultural and traditional heritage,” said Thomas Bohm of the College of Language and Translation, King Saud University, Riyadh.
The French also had a noticeable presence at the expo. French Cultural Attache Mark Duval said interest from potential students had been “amazing”.
The University of Wollongong, near Sydney, has been after Gulf money for some time, setting up a branch in Dubai as long ago as 1993. The branch now has 1,600 students, according to Dr. Cedwyn Fernandes of the Dubai branch.
Its focus is naturally on business studies.
Another Australian participant, Muhammad Hyder of IDP, the Australian equivalent of the British Council, said the response was so promising that he will encourage other Australian universities to sell themselves at the event next year.
The 10th MEETES was 35 percent bigger than last year in terms of representation and participation, said Talal Ibrahim Al-Mashady of the organizing exhibition company, with over 7,000 registered visitors.
