ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has announced 583 fully funded scholarships for Pakistani students in all disciplines, except health and medicine, at 23 top universities in the Kingdom, Saudi and Pakistani officials said.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan will process all applications and award 400 scholarships for bachelors, 100 for masters and 83 for PhD students wanting to pursue an education at Saudi universities.
“Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki and I took this matter very seriously and we really want Pakistani students to go and study in Saudi Arabia on scholarships,” Professor Dr. Ali Mohammed B. Hawsawi, Cultural Attaché of the Kingdom in Pakistan, told Arab News.
He said Saudi Arabia has been awarding limited scholarships to Pakistani students for the last several years to study courses like Sharia and Arabic language but would now offer a much larger number of scholarships.
“Pakistani students can get admission in all Saudi universities in any subject of their choice unlike in the past,” Hawsawi said. “We are brother countries and we hope this opportunity will benefit both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.”
Hawsawi said that him and ambassador Nawaf had discussed the selection procedure of students with Pakistan’s education ministry. In the past, Pakistani students were required to apply directly to Saudi universities for scholarships or sometimes through the Ministry of Education, but it had now been decided that only HEC would process scholarships applications for Saudi Arabia.
“We hope when Pakistani students return after completion of their studies in Saudi universities, they will be able to contribute positively in their respective fields,” Hawsawi added.
HEC has already advertised the scholarships on national media and announced January 31 as an application deadline.
“This is a welcome addition to the HEC’s foreign scholarships program and we hope this collaboration with Saudi Arabia will continue in the years to come as well,” HEC’s media director Dr. Ayesha Ikram said.
She said all scholars would be selected “purely on merit” through an authentic system that the HEC has already devised for foreign scholarships. A total of 250 students would be selected for the scholarship this year while the remaining would be picked next year.
The Kingdom will provide health care to students and their families as well as accommodation, food and return air tickets and special allowances, such as two months stipend on arrival in Saudi Arabia and three months graduation allowance for shipping books.
Some of the universities where Pakistani students can apply include King Abdul Aziz University, King Saud University, King Faisal University, King Khalid University, King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, and Princess Nora bint Abdul Rehman University.
“I am searching for my relevant discipline at Saudi universities and will be applying for the scholarship in a couple of days,” said Azka Noreen who plans to pursue a doctorate in biochemistry. “This will help me not only to study in a top university of Saudi Arabia, but also explore many historic places in the Kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia offers 583 scholarships to Pakistani students
Saudi Arabia offers 583 scholarships to Pakistani students
- 250 Pakistani students will be awarded Saudi scholarships this year
- Under new policy all scholarship applications to be processed by HEC
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
