Reading books improves the quality of life and opens up new horizons with its inspiring nature, Ambassador of Turkiye to Brunei Darussalam Professor Dr Hamit Ersoy said.
He said this during the hand over of books to Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohamad Saiful bin Haji Omar at the campus library yesterday.
The embassy of Turkiye donated books to the UTB library to bolster cooperation in education, training, arts, linguistics and culture between Bruneian education institutions and over 200 Turkish universities.
“We are here for the delivery of books donated by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TiKA),” he said.
He thanked Royal Brunei Airlines and Turkish Airlines for the support in transporting the books. He highlighted that this is only the beginning of a long-term cooperation.
“Turkiye, with its 209 universities (129 state, 80 private), European Union compatible education system and with numerous programmes that teaches in English has become an important centre of attraction for international students and efforts to increase global collaborations through travel, employment, education and internship opportunities”, he said.
Currently Turkiye ranks as the eighth country in the world in terms of educational standard and prestige, with over 300,000 international students enrolled from 190 countries including Brunei.
The ambassador reminded the audience of the recent state visit by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to Turkiye and the fruitful discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that culminated in five bilateral agreements signed at a joint press conference.
The ambassador reiterated the embassy’s commitment to the agreements and is “looking forward to working on new projects that could enhance the existing cooperation”.
The UTB library is the fourth to receive book donations from the embassy, following Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Universiti Sultan Sharif Ali and the library in the capital under the Language and Literature Bureau. – Fadley Faisal
