Sciences Po, one of France’s most distinguished universities, visits Markaz to exchange knowledge

14/04/2009

Markaz hosted a presentation yesterday to students from The School of Political Science of Paris “Sciences Po Paris”, a French university established in 1872 and dedicated to educating future leaders from around the world, in an endeavor to exchange firsthand expertise, research and training.

This visit is part of Babel Initiative, which aims at investigating a country each year in the area studied on the Menton campus, in order to develop an on-site research. The Babel Initiative’s current project is titled “Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait: Evolution in light of a changing environment”. The students visited Markaz’s 35-year old headquarters in Kuwait’s financial district, and listened to a presentation titled “GCC Economies in Perspective and Leveraging Oil Wealth” by Mr. M.R. Raghu, Head of Research at Markaz. The presentation covered all aspects of the GCC economies including oil, the monetary sector and fiscal policy, capital markets and the impact of the global financial crisis on the GCC in general and on the financial sector in particular.

On this occasion, Mr. Manaf Alhajeri said “Educational initiatives and activities are embedded within Markaz’s culture. Interaction with other cultures enables us to communicate the positive aspects of our region, which is extremely crucial as economies interweave ever more closely and the MENA region ends up playing a more vital role in the global scene. We are also extremely pleased to cooperate with such a prestigious university as Sciences Po.”

Mr. Julian Clec'h, Sciences Po Paris Representative, said “Sciences Po’s goal is to train students to become future leaders. We are here in Kuwait to promote French higher education in the GCC and to develop a research platform for the area and on-site research is conducted to acquire first hand experience. We would like to thank Markaz for hosting us.”

Science Po students will also be visiting the US Navy, US Embassy and BNP Paribas in Bahrain, in addition to Georgetown University in Qatar.

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Photo caption: M.R.Raghu, Manaf Alhajeri, Julian Clec'h, Farah Al Essa.
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Sciences Po:Facts and Figures
  • Established in 1872, Science Po is an international research university, educating future leaders from around the world.
  • Both in france and abroad, alumni hold positions of responsibility in business (80%), public administration (15%), research and academia (5%).
  • 6700 students from over 45 countries.
  • Rate of selection: 10% of applicants selected at the undergraduate level.
  • 13 languages taught.
  • 1,400 teaching staff.
  • 9 research centres.
About Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”:

Kuwait Financial Centre S.A.K 'Markaz', with total assets under management of over KD 880 million as of December 31, 2008 was established in 1974, and has become one of the leading asset management and investment banking institutions in the Arabian Gulf Region. Markaz was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1997; and was awarded a BBB+ corporate rating by Capital Intelligence Ltd.

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