UAE's Sharjah Emirate Open To Expansion Of Student Exchange With Russia - Government

The UAE Emirate of Sharjah, which hosts the Sharjah University City education district, is interested in expanding student exchange with Russia on reciprocal basis, Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, the executive chairman of Sharjah's Department of Government Relations, told Sputnik

DUBAI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2019) The UAE Emirate of Sharjah, which hosts the Sharjah University City education district, is interested in expanding student exchange with Russia on reciprocal basis, Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, the executive chairman of Sharjah's Department of Government Relations, told Sputnik.

"We are open to all sorts of discussions. In fact, the most important thing about how we operate as the country and how we operate as the Emirate of Sharjah is reciprocity. If we were to see Emirati students going to Russia to learn, to do internships, we would welcome with open arms Russian students learning Arabic to come and maybe learn in our education institutions as well," Al Qasimi said, when asked whether the emirate is interested in Russia increasing the number of state-funded scholarships for the Emirati students.

The Emirate of Sharjah and Russia already enjoy a burgeoning culture cooperation with the Russian city of St.

Petersburg having hosted the Sharjah Week cultural event earlier in the year.

"I think the most exciting thing for me as [a representative of] Sharjah is the cultural connection. The cultural understanding and the cultural exchange are already there, [Russia and Sharjah need] to build that onto education, so we can start sharing between our universities and also sharing and teaching language. And hopefully, expand into innovation sphere. Russian innovation is extremely impressive, Emirati innovation is extremely impressive," Al Qasimi underlined.

The city of Sharjah is considered to be the cultural capital of the UAE, hosting numerous museums and universities. Many Russian-speaking nationals reside in Sharjah, while the largest Orthodox Christian church in the country is also located in the emirate.