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New Zealand courts Middle East business

New Zealand’s tertiary education minister, Steven Joyce, is visiting the Gulf states of Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to raise New Zealand’s profile as an international study destination. He will also support education companies as he meets with local ministers and attends IECHE, a major international education fair in Saudi Arabia.
April 16 2012
2 Min Read

New Zealand’s tertiary education, skills and employment minister, Steven Joyce, is visiting the Gulf states of Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to raise New Zealand’s profile as an international study destination. He will also support education companies wishing to grow their business in the region as he meets with local ministers and attends promotional functions.

“Since 2008 students from the Gulf States studying in New Zealand have grown by 33.4% and are now approaching 7,500. This makes the Gulf states our fifth largest source of international students,” Joyce said in a statement last week.

“Education consultancy companies have successfully undertaken work and are continuing to bid for significant contracts in a number of countries in the region.”

He will also give the closing address at the largest education fair in the region, the International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education in Saudi Arabia, happening this week. Officials from Education New ZealandImmigration New Zealand and other state-backed bodies will also attend.

The fair welcomes hundreds of universities from around the world wishing to tap the Saudi market which is bolstered by the extensive King Abdullah scholarship scheme (the scheme funds more than 67% of Saudis who study abroad and is guaranteed until 2020).

Said Joyce: “New Zealand has a growing international reputation of delivering high quality education. The international education industry remains in good shape to double its economic contribution to New Zealand to NZ$5 billion by 2025. The Gulf States and the Middle East are an important part of that future growth.”

Joyce will give the closing address at the largest education fair in the region, IECHE

New Zealand has increased its promotion of international education in recent months. In March, Joyce pledged NZ$5million to the Canterbury region of New Zealand where international recruitment fell 37% after the Christchurch earthquakes (prompting a national decline of 0.5% in 2011).

Minister of immigration, Nathan Guy, also scrapped health screening rules for international students to boost numbers, saving 62,800 students NZ$17 million in costs. New Zealand welcomed almost 100,000 international students at its universities, private colleges and schools in 2010.

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