RIYADH, 13 December 2006 — German Ambassador Juergen Krieghoff and his wife Barbara hosted a reception Monday night at their residence in the Diplomatic Quarter for some 90 Saudi students studying German language at the College of Languages & Translation at King Saud University (KSU) here.
“I should like to thank everybody who has helped in organizing this event, which is held after a year’s study of German. This is the proper time to find out how much these students have learned,” he said.
Krieghoff said that a group of 76 Saudi students had gone to Germany in the first week of December to study technical subjects in different German universities. Of the 76, six were women.
The ambassador added that while Saudis are studying German, he hopes that more German students will come to the Kingdom to study. The two countries have a student exchange program. The cultural section of the German Embassy holds courses for those who want to learn German.
The KSU students who attended the reception expressed their happiness at having decided to study German. “I believe I have a good future because I chose the German language course,” said 22-year-old Shabeed Al-Otaibi.
Opportunities abound because there are several big German companies, which have direct or indirect presence in Saudi Arabia, whereas many Saudi companies such as SABIC have their presence in Germany.
The Saudi academic and research centers can have some sort of tie-ups with some premier German research institutes in the field of science and research, according to the ambassador.
Last year 50 Saudi students were sent to study in Germany. They learned German language for two years before they were enrolled on different subjects in different German colleges and universities.
