Turkey wants more Eswatini students enrolled
MBABANE- The Turkish Ambassador, Aysegul Kandas said her country through the Turkish Maarf Foundation wants to increase the number of students enrolled in the Turkish universities.
The ambassador said currently, about 73 applications were completed and they were waiting to announce those who made it for the 2022/2023 academic year. She said people should keep track of the upcoming results, by following the Turkish embassy online, which was currently based in Pretoria. “We just hope to increase the number of students who will go to Turkey and further their studies in that country. Currently, we have few of emaSwati who are studying there. We are seeing a great opportunity for students who wish to further their studies in our country because they will receive the Eswatini curriculum,” she said.
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The Turkish Ambassador further said that she wanted to open an international school in Eswatini through the Turkish Maarf Foundation. The ambassador further stated that she intended on meeting some government stakeholders as there were projects they wanted to implement in the country that would be helpful to people at grass root levels. She said all these were to be accomplished only if she was fully supported by the stakeholders. Kandas further said while still in the country, she would like to meet the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development as well as the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku.
“Our meeting with EIPA CEO is for him to inform my team about the available investment opportunities that exist and can be explored in the country. Through the Turkish Development Cooperation Agency (TIKA), about 72 companies have been established in South Africa, more especially in Gauteng and Durban.
We also have a big investment in Eswatini through the D-Five (refrigerators). So, we want to open more businesses in Eswatini,” she added.
Kandas, who has visited the country for the second time with the aim of exploring various opportunities that exist, said she had an interest in bringing in experts into Eswatini who would be responsible for training interested candidates in fishery farming. She said they had already met with the Ministry of Agriculture in this regard.
Kandas further stated that they were in Eswatini to do human interest projects mentioning that they wanted to encourage women on how to fight issues such as gender-based violence, educate them about healthcare as well as teach them on sewing following that TIKA donated about five sewing machines in all the four regions of the country during the COVID-19 era. “We have donated five sewing machines for embroidery, to women who are into the sewing of school uniforms. This also helps them in generating their own income,” she said.
Kandas said their main aim in Eswatini was to develop a relationship more especially in the education sector, bringing more tourism to the country, promote infrastructure development and above all, promote the cultural exchange between the two countries.