Thursday, 09 August, 2012

University of Wollongong in Dubai hosted an Iftar dinner for a large gathering of alumni and guests at Movenpick Jumeirah Beach Hotel, as part of its ongoing exercise to build strong bonds with its growing alumni community.The event was graced by His Excellency Pablo Kang, Australian Ambassador to the UAE, Consul General of the Republic of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Askar Shokybayav, HE Qasem Radwan, Consul General of the State of Palestine, Gulf News Editor-at-Large Francis Matthew and Professor Ghassan Aouad, President of UOWD along with university officials and faculty members.Speaking at the event, Ambassador Pablo Kang remarked that University of Wollongong in Dubai was a microcosm of the booming bilateral relations between the UAE and Australia. He pointed out that currently there are 98 flights a week connecting Australia to the UAE (while there were none in 1995), and bilateral trade volumes crossed $6.4 billion in 2011. He also referred to the recent agreement for cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy in UAE.The Ambassador said Australia was proud of the many achievements of University of Wollongong in Dubai in less than two decades, including the feat of producing 6,000 graduates, of whom more than 1000 are Emiratis.Professor Ghassan Aouad hailed the alumni as the university’s best ambassadors and urged them to stay connected to avail of new offerings as well as to help the university to raise its profile further.“The University of Wollongong is getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary next year and we look forward to alumni involvement in the celebrations. We have a lot to celebrate, including the launch of new programs, the establishment of Doctoral Training Centre and awarding of 33rd ranking for the university’s parent institution in the Times Higher Education global list of Top 100 young universities,” added Professor Ghassan.The event concluded with an audiovisual on the growth and achievements of the University of Wollongong in Dubai.