A group of 30 female students from the United Arab Emirates visited the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh today ( Tuesday, July 1) and met Linda Fabiani, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture.
The students are on a two-week Summer School study visit hosted by Dundee’s Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies.
It brings the total number of students from the UAE to visit Dundee and Scotland to over 200 in recent years and the Institute’s Acting Principal, Professor Malory Nye expects they will be impressed by Scotland during their stay. “We’re showcasing Scotland by helping them to get to know it,” said Professor Nye. “They will learn something of the country’s history, its culture and its people and by the time they are set to go home, we hope we will have groomed a group of ‘ambassadors’ ready to convince people in the UAE to make Scotland a holiday destination.
“The Institute has been involved in successfully linking Dundee and Dubai so we hope the Summer School will play an important part in bringing the city and the whole of Scotland to the attention of potential UAE visitors. We are very pleased and grateful that the Minister was able to meet with the students on their visit to the Parliament.”
Fifteen of the students are from UAE University, five from the British University in Dubai and ten come from the Higher Colleges of Technology across the Emirates.
Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said: “The Scottish Government is delighted to welcome these students from the UAE, who have a tremendous opportunity to learn about Scotland. We hope that this will further strengthen the ties between Scotland and the UAE, and we look forward to welcoming our guests and their families back to Scotland in the future.”
