LAHORE: Consul General of Turkey Mehmet Eymen Semsek has said Turkey and Pakistan enjoy close relations in the field of education and the Turkish Consulate was ready to facilitate further cooperation and help discover new avenues of collaboration between the two sides in education and related areas.
He was addressing the Education & Skills Summit 2026 at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which was also attended by Director General PEMRA Ayesha Manzoor Wattoo, Vice Chancellor University of South Asia Imran Masood, Country Head Malala Fund Pakistan Nishat Riaz, Founding Chairman PHEC Dr Nizam Ud Din and Co-Founder UMT Abid Sherwani.
He said education was closely connected with diplomacy and expressed appreciation for the efforts being made to promote education and skills development in Pakistan. He said he preferred to listen and learn from experts rather than present himself as an authority on technical education matters.
Turkey and Pakistan enjoyed close relations in the field of education and that numerous delegations had travelled between the two countries during the past year, he added. Highlighting the importance of Pakistan’s large and young population, the Turkish diplomat said the country’s youth represented both a major demand and supply opportunity in the field of education. He expressed his support for efforts aimed at strengthening educational cooperation between the two countries.
DG PEMRA Ayesha Manzoor Wattoo said education and skills were not merely the responsibility of educational institutions, as media also played an important role in shaping the thinking and aspirations of young people.
PEMRA was not only a regulatory body but also had a responsibility to educate the public, create awareness and address complaints relating to electronic media, she observed. According to her, one of the biggest challenges facing Pakistan was that thousands of young people possessed degrees but were still unable to find employment. She stressed that the education system needed to respond to the actual requirements of employers and the economy.
She said freedom of expression was an important constitutional principle, but responsible broadcasting was equally necessary to protect public discourse. She urged young people to verify information before sharing it and stressed that media professionals themselves needed continuous upskilling in journalism, production, fact-checking, data work, cyber hygiene and the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence.
LCCI President Faheem Ur Rehman Saigol said education was the key to changing society and stressed that Pakistan needed to bring education, character building and skill development together. Country’s economic performance lagged behind several regional countries which had started their development journeys around the same time but had now moved ahead, he stated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026