Lyndon Jones, ABE’s Founder Chairman and Caspar Bartington, ABE’s Marketing Manager, presented at launch events, which took place in Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Islamabad. Caspar has been a frequent visitor to Pakistan over the years and enjoyed renewing acquaintances with British Council staff in Lahore and Karachi.

The final member of the group travelling from the UK was David Ward, from Leeds Metropolitan University (Leeds Met). David was able to talk about the university, its excellent business school and the close links that ABE and Leeds Met have enjoyed over a number of years. Many students with their Diploma and Advanced Diploma have gone on to complete their degree at the university.

The trip was also an opportunity to introduce our national representative for Pakistan, Dr. Mansoor Ansari.

Chief Guests at the events included the President of the Bankers’ Development Institute, Mr MM Malik, the Director of the British Council in Pakistan, Dr Tom Craig-Cameron, and the Minister for Information Technology, Mr Abdul Aleem Khan. Senior British Council staff were present at each event and spoke in warm terms of ABE’s timely introduction in Pakistan.

Caspar explained how much he was looking forward to involving the British Council in the growth of the Pakistan market.

“ABE will work closely with the British Council throughout Pakistan. This will ensure the integrity of our examinations, whether they are taken in Peshawar, Karachi, Quetta, Islamabad or anywhere else. This relationship is just as important as the ones that we develop with our colleges.”

In each of the presentations and subsequent discussions, students, staff and officials were impressed with the progression routes that ABE has developed with universities in the UK, Australia, Canada, the USA and beyond.

The trip also involved the accreditation of ABE’s first colleges in Pakistan - Pearl Institute of Management and Information Technology, in Quetta, and University College of Advanced Technologies, in Islamabad. These are the first of around 25 colleges that we will approve to offer ABE programmes across Pakistan in the next two years. There were also a number of presentations in prospective ABE colleges in each of the cities visited.

Lyndon Jones spoke of the potential that exists within Pakistan, and the hurdles, often financial, that have up to this point prevented students from fulfilling their potential. “ABE has a commitment to making high-quality UK education affordable, whether you are in the UK, Pakistan or anywhere else in the world” he said.

Our representative, Dr. Mansoor Ansari, is permanently based in Pakistan and is travelling across the country to respond to the excellent level of interest in our programmes. The next visit from London staff is scheduled to be in September.

If you are interested in offering ABE qualifications in Pakistan, or are looking to study a high-quality, affordable and recognised business programme in Pakistan.

Please contact Dr. Mansoor Ansari on mansooransari@mainternational.co.uk or mansooransari@hotmail.com;
you can also call him on 0343 246 0261 or visit www.mainternational.co.uk