WNAM REPORT: Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar, Rector, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), is part of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan’s delegation of Vice Chancellors participating in SARCHE 2026 — the South Asian Regional Conference on Higher Education, being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The conference has brought together over 30 international delegates, including senior representatives from Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and several other countries, as well as senior officials from the World Bank, to deliberate on the current state of higher education in the region and to chart future pathways with an emphasis on regional cooperation.
On the sidelines of the conference, Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar held separate meetings with Prof. Md. Shahinul Alam, Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh Medical University (BMU), and Prof. Dr. Saleh-Hasan-Naqib, Vice Chancellor, University of Rajshahi. The meetings focused on enhancing regional collaboration in research, strengthening academic partnerships, and promoting faculty and student exchanges between leading institutions of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
During these interactions, Prof. Qamar extended COMSATS University Islamabad’s standing offer of ten postgraduate scholarships per university for faculty members of both Bangladesh Medical University and the University of Rajshahi.
It was also agreed that CUI’s commercialized biomedical products, KytoStat and KytoGraft, will be provided to Bangladesh Medical University for testing and evaluation in the Bangladeshi environment. This collaboration is expected to contribute to improved healthcare outcomes while delivering meaningful socio-economic benefits as a goodwill initiative from Pakistan.
The discussions further emphasized new models of research collaboration, particularly the use of Artificial Intelligence to map research gaps, optimize resource utilization, and jointly address region-specific socio-economic and healthcare challenges. Both sides expressed strong interest in developing collaborative, data-driven research frameworks to enhance the quality, relevance and impact of research across South Asia.
The three-day SARCHE 2026 Conference features eight thematic sessions. The first day focused on “The Current State of Higher Education in South Asia: Governance, Quality and Inclusion” and “Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Social Engagement.”
The second day included sessions on Artificial Intelligence Integration and Digital Transformation, Industry–Academia Collaboration and Graduate Employability, Future Pathways of Higher Education through Regional Cooperation, Stakeholder Dialogue on Higher Education Transformation, and a Vice-Chancellors’ Dialogue in the context of the HEAT Project.
The final day will address gender issues in higher education, followed by the adoption of the “Dhaka Higher Education Declaration.”
The conference was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh.
