Belarus, Kyrgyzstan agree on stronger cooperation with Pakistan in education

Islamabad: Belarus and Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday agreed to increase cooperation with Pakistan in the field of education.

The agreement came as ambassadors of the two countries separately called on Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood here. Education secretary Arshad Mirza was also in attendance. During meeting with Ambassador of Belarus Andrei Ermolovich, the education minister said Pakistan and Belarus enjoyed good relations in the field of education and professional training.

"Our government’s top most priority is the promotion of education. We would like to promote our cooperation with Belarus in this field," he said. The minister said though a number of memorandums of understanding and protocols had been signed between them, the two countries needed to work on their rapid implementation and further strengthening that cooperation.

He said the Joint Ministerial Committee on Education between the two countries would be made more efficient and effective. The minister thanked the ambassador for the technical support for Pakistan in the establishment of the Skills University.

“Pakistan will seek and benefit from the support & expertise of Belarus in the field of Skill Development and will now start exploring new avenues of cooperation in the field of education and skill development,” he said.

The Belarus ambassador said a number of agreements and protocols had been signed by Belarus with all the major universities and with the provincial and federal governments for the promotion of education between the two countries. “We will provide Pakistan all out support in field of Education and Skill Development and besides the implementation of existing protocols, can work on new projects,” he said.

Both sides agreed to hold further meetings and to coordinate for the progress of education and increased cooperation between both countries. Earlier, Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan Erik Beishembiev met the minister and discussed the prospects of Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan cooperation in the field of education.

Both sides agreed on the establishment of linkages between Universities of Pakistan and Kyrgyz in the field of medicine, agriculture, defence and strategic studies and said the two countries would work for the promotion of skill development.