German Embassy holds first alumni network meeting

LAHORE: The German Embassy in Pakistan held its first alumni network meeting at the resident of the German Ambassador, Diplomatic Enclave, Islamabad, recently. The event led by Christine Rosenberger, the Press and Cultural Attaché was well-organised and well-attended by those who had the opportunity of studying in Germany through different programmes, including scholarship schemes. It was a colourful afternoon and alumni of all ages from across all subject areas and specialisms participated getting an opportunity to interact under one platform.

The Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck in his welcome address thanked the alumni and guests and was pleased to see that more than expected people turned up. He appreciated the efforts of his cultural wing under the leadership of Christine Rosenberger and said the event would set the pace for this community to get together on a regular basis. He said that this would provide an opportunity for German alumni in Pakistan to come together and share their views, exploiting their potential and contributing to the development of their particular specialised area in Pakistan.

The programme included talks from alumni hailing from various schemes such as DAAD, the Cross Culture Programme (CCP), Alexander von Humboldt, Themenreisen and Goethe-Institute etc. The alumni shared their experiences and gave useful and vital information on such scholarship programmes, including German language.

The experts from GIZ in Pakistan provided an insight for the work being done in the renewable energy sector for climate change with respect to German-Pakistani cooperation. Alumni from different provinces like Punjab, KP and the federal capital were asked to gather on their specified desks so that they could meet their colleagues and fellow alumni from the same area apart from inter-provincial meetings between alumni was also facilitated.

The participants were highly pleased to meet their friends and fellow alumni and thought that the event had given them an opportunity to interact and meet with people belonging to different professions and walks of life and would help them to connect in their professional areas going forward. The event included cultural performance and ended with a sumptuous dinner.