ISLAMABAD- Pakistan’s top University — the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) is planning to open its campuses in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
“We are increasing our visibility around the world to attract more Pakistani expatriates and foreign students,” said Lt-General (retired) Naweed Zaman, Rector of the NUST link> .
He said the NUST link> is working on plans to open at least two campuses — one each in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “Our priority is to open the NUST link> campus in the UAE first as we are talking to the authorities concerned,” Lt-Gen Zaman told Gulf News on the sidelines of an event held in Abu Dhabi as part of the university’s outreach programme.
The event was organised by an Abu Dhabi-based prominent Pakistani businessman Malik Zaheer Awan, who is also chairman of the Council of Pakistani Engineers in the UAE.
Lt-Gen Zaman said that they are working on different options to set up the university campuses within next two to three years if they manage to reach an agreement with the authorities concerned in the UAE. “We are also open for public-private sector partnership to operate the campuses,” he added.
NUST link> is the only Pakistani university which ranks among 500 universities in the world at number 437. It offers 124 programmes to more than 16,000 students in various study fields for graduation, post-graduation and the PhD. Around 50,000 students appear for admission tests every year to compete for 2,000 seats.