NLIS 2
July 16, 2003
(Youth Services and Post-Secondary Education)

 

Minister welcomes Qatar delegation to the province

This afternoon Youth Services and Post-Secondary Education Minister Anna Thistle will welcome His Excellency, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Bin Saud Al-Thani, Chief of the Amiri Diwan of Qatar, to Newfoundland and Labrador. His Excellency is visiting the province, along with a delegation of officials and members of the Joint Oversight Board for the College of the North Atlantic�s Qatar Campus.

"We are very proud of the partnership and friendships that have developed between the State of Qatar and our province," said Minister Thistle. "We have discovered that despite geographical distance, we have much in common - a great respect for quality education, friendly people, the ocean, and oil and gas."

In addition to attending a Joint Oversight Board meeting, while in the province His Excellency and the Qatar delegation will attend a College of the North Atlantic industry and business community reception at the Christina Parker Gallery, a dinner hosted by Minister Thistle with the Joint Oversight Board and College of the North Atlantic officials at the Fairmont Newfoundland, as well as a trade meeting at the Fairmont Newfoundland, where they will be given a presentation by FPC Trans Canada Pipeline.

The College of the North Atlantic established a campus in the State of Qatar in 2002, following the awarding of a US$500 million contract and a commitment to bring to Qatar, the Canadian educational culture, the College�s governance and management systems, program accreditation, certification of graduates and its professional approach to industry-driven curricula. This arrangement is the largest contract ever awarded to a Canadian educational institution.

"This is a world-class project, which all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians should be very proud of," said Minister Thistle. "As the Qatar project moves into its second year, tremendous growth is projected for the 2003-2004 period. Enrolment will be approximately 690 students, including 400 first-year students. This is a significant increase over the 273 students registered at the Qatar campus in 2002."

His Excellency is joined on the visit to Newfoundland and Labrador by Sheikh Hamed Bin Jabor Al-Thani (Director of Administration, Qatar Petroleum), Dr. Latifa Al-Houty (Project Director and Member of the Steering Committee), Dr. Fathy Saoud (Academic Advisor, Office of the H.H., the Emir�s Consort and Member of the Steering Committee), Dr. Mohamed Al-Sada (Director Technical, Qatar Petroleum, and Member of the Steering Committee). Mr. Bader Al-Qayed (Head of Internal Audit Section, Qatar Ministry of Finance, and Member of the Steering Committee), Mr. Yousef Al-Kuwari (Director of the Building Engineering Department and Member of the Steering Committee), Mr. Patrick Lowe (President of Occidental Petroleum, Qatar, and Member of the Joint Oversight Board-Qatar), Mr. Mohamed Al-Sulaiti (Secretary to His Excellency), Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Khal (Chairman of Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation) and Gerard Poirier (R&D Manager, Dassault Aviation, France).

Media contact: Kathy Dicks-Peyton, Communications, (709) 729-6573.

2003 07 16                                  11:55 a.m.


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