The Irish Embassy has urged Saudi students to enroll in the country’s universities because of their “excellent” reputation.

The country has also invited Education Minister Azzam bin Mohammad Al-Dakheel to visit Ireland and see how Saudis are progressing.

“We have excellent universities. Ireland’s higher education system is in the top 20 worldwide,” said Irish Ambassador Tony Cotter in an interview on Thursday.

He said the number of Saudi students at various Irish colleges and universities has grown to some 3,000 over the past six years. The plan is to ensure that more students from the Kingdom can take advantage of the country’s “top-quality education,” he said.

The country wants to ensure that there is a specific office available to support Saudi students and deal with their queries. The presence of Saudis in Ireland is helping to strengthen bilateral relations, he said.

“All our higher education institutions have a designated staff member to whom Saudi and other foreign students can turn to for assistance. Simply put, we’re a friendly, welcoming bunch of people, and that’s why international students get so much out of the Irish experience,” Cotter said.

He said Ireland’s reputation for high quality education is built on a foundation of commitment and excellence. “Today, we have one of the best education systems in the world and an internationally renowned reputation for academic quality,” the Irish envoy said.

Cotter, who had earlier been posted to Zambia, said that Ireland’s higher education institutions have over 5,000 courses on offer across the spectrum of medicine, science, technology, engineering, business, law, languages, literature, history, philosophy and sociology. This includes creative, visual and performing arts.