Press Release
PR No. ETA- 75 - 2021

JEDDAH PCG OFFICERS VISIT KAUST, THE FIRST MIXED-GENDER UNIVERSITY IN KSA

7 December 2021, Jeddah – The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah (Jeddah PCG) officers, led by Consul General Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian, visited the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia on 2 December 2021.

Consul General Auxilian with KAUST President Dr. Tony Chan (center), and Consul General Rommel Romato (2^nd left), Ms. Shirley C. Cadiz, HR Specialist, KAUST-Talent Management and Services (leftmost), and representative from the Algerian government (rightmost) 

The visit and campus tour was arranged by the KAUST administration, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for all diplomatic missions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of diplomatic officials from the different embassies and consulates in the Kingdom were in attendance at the campus tour. Consul General Auxilian was accompanied by Vice-Consul Alfred Kristoffer A. Guiang and Attache and Cultural Officer Sittie Zubaida Murod-Malang. The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh was represented by Consul General Rommel Romato and Vice-Consul Francis Torres.

Jeddah PCG officials headed by Consul General Auxilian (2^nd from left), with Vice Consul Alfred Guiang (leftmost), with Philippine Embassy in Riyadh officials Consul General Rommel Romato (2^nd from right) and Vice-Consul Francis Torres (rightmost). With them are Mr. Al-Beshri Fahad, Protocol Officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs- Riyadh

The program included an overview of the University given by its President, Dr. Tony Chan, tours of the KAUST Library, Visual Lab, Reseach Center, and other state-of-the-art facilities of the institution.

Consul General Auxilian noted how advanced the university is in terms of its facilities and research and development outputs, and hopes that more Filipino students will apply in the university as they pursue advanced education in the field of the sciences.

Consul General Auxilian (center) with Indian Consul General in Jeddah Mr. Mohammad Shahid Alam (left) and Thai Consul General in Jeddah Mr. Soradjak Puranasamriddhi (right)

Dr. Tony Chan, President of KAUST, gives an overview of the university

KAUST, established in 2009, is the first mixed-gender university in Saudi Arabia, with students coming from different countries around the world.  The university ranked 19^th in the fastest rising universities in the world for high quality research output in the 2016 Nature Index Stars. It ranked 8^th worldwide among the fastest rising young universities for its research output since 2015, as measured by fractional count. At present, there is one Filipino student pursuing advanced programs in the university. Some 40 Filipinos are part of the university’s staff complement.  -END-