The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The three-day Asia Regional Higher Education Summit concluded in Dhaka yesterday with organizers announcing five new Fulbright scholarships for Bangladesh.

No declaration or statement was issued at the close of the summit in capital's Westin Hotel, but officials said the outcome of the Dhaka deliberations will be announced later through a press briefing.

Speaking at Wednesday's last session, US ambassador James F. Moriarty said that the U.S. Government, through the State Department's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, had authorized five new Fulbright positions for studies in Bangladesh's food security areas.

"We heard the message that food security is a great concern and that higher education is key to developing a solution. These five new Fulbrighters will pursue master's degree programmes in the US in the area of food security. We heard, we listened and we acted. I challenge you all to do the same," Moriarty said.

On the just-concluded summit, the US ambassador said that it opened the next chapter for new partnerships, new networks and new ideas.

Terming the Dhaka summit a "great success" Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr SMA Faiz said it was focused on four specific global challenges for the Asia region, including food security, women' s entrepreneurship, teacher training, and natural disaster management and mitigation.

The summit put forward significant recommendations that would help the policy makers, educators and researchers alike, he added.

Vice-chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Prof Dr AMM Safiullah and USAID mission director in Bangladesh Denise Rollins also spoke on the occasion.

More than 100 participants from different universities and other organizations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, the United States, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam took part in the summit.