Islamabad-The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Hungarian government enhancing the collaboration in education sector will renew the agreement for awarding scholarships to Pakistani students, Saturday.  “Pakistan accords high importance to collaboration with Hungary,” said Chairman HEC Dr Tariq Banuri in a meeting with Ambassador of Hungary to Pakistan, Istvan Szabo. Ambassador Szabo said that Hungary is looking forward to enhancing collaboration with HEC. Congratulating the Chairman on the completion of studies by 11 Pakistani students of the first batch sent to Hungary under the bilateral Higher Education and Scientific Exchange Program, he said the program has yielded fruitful results.  Appreciating the academic support and collaboration by Hungary, Dr Banuri said HEC will welcome extension in the program. The students studying in Hungary will bring back extensive knowledge, exposure and experience and will play a significant role in socio-economic development of Pakistan.

He maintained that the collaboration needs to be further strengthened by creating opportunities for faculty and university administrative staff. He underlined that Pakistan is strong in areas like agriculture, Biotechnology and Microbiology, while the textile sector is also well-advanced. He said HEC will welcome Hungarian students to come to Pakistan and pursue studies in these subjects.  Ambassador Szabo proposed formation of an alumni group. To this, Dr Banuri said that HEC will extend support in formation of the group. Dr Banuri stressed the need for exploring more potential areas for bilateral cooperation. He said the two sides may collaborate in sports coaching, sports management trainings, healthcare and medicinal therapies. He reiterated HEC’s full support to Hungarian students, professors and researchers to come to Pakistan and work in the areas of mutual interest. During the meeting, initial discussions were also held on a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will encompass the bilateral scholarship program, academic and research collaboration between Pakistani and Hungarian universities, arrangement of conferences, seminars and workshops on areas of mutual interest.

Under the Bilateral Higher Education and Scientific Exchange Program, the Hungarian Government has awarded 480 fully-funded scholarships to Pakistani nationals, while the Government of Pakistan reserved 30 scholarships for Hungarian students. Recently, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest has accepted to conduct a joint research in Pakistan in the field of archaeology with archaeology departments of University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. A conference on archaeology, fine arts and cultural heritage is under discussion between Pakistani and Hungarian universities. Also, a workshop in clinical areas at University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore in collaboration with University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest is also under consideration.