Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and Abu Dhabi government officials held a meeting at Emirates Palace discussing a wide range of issues concerning to education and its expansion in the country.

WAM, Emirates News Agency said that collaboration in the country is a bit difficult task due to variety of factors such as rigid laws, social disturbance and restrictions on women in the Emirati society.

In a call to His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Zeppos urged support from the government for raising the level of local universities to the international standards. Zeppos reiterated his wish to have strong educational ties with the United Arab Emirates and its educational institutions for excelling growth of the region.

Regarding issues with the foreign universities setting up campus in the country, NYUAD student Claudia P Carrasco Valdich said, “Of course there was a culture shock, but to me, at least the more I learn about the Arab culture and Muslim lifestyle here, the more I begin to understand that the western lifestyle is not as ‘comforting’ as it should be.”