May 13, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 12: The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) will set up a state-of-the-art university of applied sciences in Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference, German Ambassador Dr Gunter Mulack said DAAD had joined hands with the HEC in setting up a technical university of applied sciences in the country.

A contract will be signed in November between the consortium of German universities and the Pakistani officials in charge of the project.

Pakistan will provide the funding, whereas Germany will be looking after the administrative affairs of the university including faculty, labs and the technical assistance.

The vice-chancellor of the university will be a German professor and the institution will be run on international standards. The curriculum of German technical universities will be taught in the university.

The ambassador said Germany had already established such a university in Cairo. He said it was still to be decided in which part of Pakistan the university would be located, as there was a competition among the regions to get the project.

The project is part of Pakistan’s plan to establish engineering universities with the help of Austria, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, China, South Korea and Sweden at a cost of Rs180 billion over a period of ten years.

Speaking on the occasion, Executive Director HEC Dr Suhail Naqvi said the university would be open for all and the only admission criterion would be merit.

Moreover, deserving students would be offered scholarships and its fee structure will be according to other public sector universities of the country.

Dr Suhail said German quality assurance system would ensure that the proposed university maintained its standard at par with international standards and it would be designed by German experts. He said Germany would also provide some faculty staff and would train the Pakistani faculty.

The university will have the disciplines of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering and basic sciences faculty. Other disciplines will be selected in consultation with German collaborators.

Headed by Prof Dr Matthias Winiger, Rector Bonn University, a seven-member delegation of DAAD has been on a week-long visit to Pakistan in connection with the establishment of the university.

The delegation has finalised the details of the project in a series of meetings with Dr Attaur Rehman, Chairman HEC, and other officials. The team has also visited vice-chancellors of the known universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad including HEJ Institute. They also had meetings with the chairmen and members of chambers of commerce in these cities.

In response to a question, the ambassador said according to the autopsy, the body of Aamir Cheema did not carry any signs of torture.

The body of Cheema is arriving in Lahore on Saturday (today). To another question, he said all the standard procedures were followed to determine the cause of his death in a pre-trial confinement cell. However, the ambassador shied away questions about the details of investigations.

During the entire process, a Pakistani team was present there, which also visited the cell where Cheema died and necessary information has been shared with the team, said the ambassador.