02/04/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/04/2025 06:58
A delegation from Pakistan led by a senior minister recently joined university leaders and partners at Keele to discuss collaborations between Pakistan and the UK.
Led by Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Reforms, Professor Ahsan Iqbal, the delegation met with leaders from Keele University, as well as regional and national stakeholders including Midlands Partnership University Foundation Trust (MPUFT) and the Faculty of Public Health UK, to discuss sustainable development through higher education collaborations between Pakistan and the UK.
During his visit, the Minister Professor Iqbal outlined further areas for collaboration to impact the lives of communities, including knowledge exchange, and collaboration between Keele and Pakistan universities to support the delivery of high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate curricula.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Professor Mark Ormerod OBE, also spoke of his desire to see Keele's collaboration with Pakistan continue to grow.
He highlighted the multimillion-pound Keele research studies implemented in Pakistan over recent years, which have included studies involving treating depression in tuberculosis patients, and a new five-year project to provide early intervention for psychosis in Pakistan and Sri Lanka led by Professor Saeed Farooq.
Professor Ormerod said: "We were delighted to host the Ministerial Delegation from Pakistan to reflect on the impact and achievements to date of our mental health research in the country over many years, as well as discussing sustainability and sustainable development, another key institutional priority, and how we contribute to the development of society. These are core areas which link directly to the recently launched URAAN national transformation plan for Pakistan.
"Keele University has a strong institutional commitment to building closer relationships and stronger, deeper collaborative education partnerships with Pakistan, using our extensive longstanding large-scale research projects in health, to help underpin our strong growth in students from Pakistan studying undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Keele."