Education alliance: France offers 200 more scholarships to Pakistani students

French envoy says over 500 Pakistani students already studying in France

ISLAMABAD: France and Pakistan have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 200 need-based scholarships to the underprivileged Pakistani students in various subjects for further promoting bilateral educational cooperation.

The scholarships would be available from next year. The MOU was signed by French Ambassador Martine Dorance and Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed in a ceremony held at the residence of French envoy.

The ambassador said the MoU would further cement bridges between the two people. Higher education was one of the pillars of Pak-French cooperation and the MOU, signed today would give scholarships to students, who did not have sufficient means to continue their education.

Later, the envoy hosted the annual dinner in honour of Pakistan-France Alumni Network (PFAN). She said 500 students from Pakistan were already in France to pursue studies in different fields. France, she said, was the world’s third-favourite destination for international students and it would like to have more students from Pakistan.

The French envoy said members of the PFAN were Pakistan’s ambassadors in France whenever they were visiting there. Similarly, they were French ambassadors while working in Pakistan. “You are the bridge between the two countries,” she added. “We want to forge long lasting relations between France and Pakistan. We wish you will return to France as businessmen and as investors,” she said while referring to PFAN members.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2016.