Lord Green, the UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment, has officially opened the second state-of-the-art phase of the Dubai Campus.
Professor Steve Chapman, Principal of Heriot-Watt University, and Professor Ammar Kaka, Vice-Principal Dubai Campus, met Lord Green and His Excellency Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami, Minister of Education, UAE, to escort them on a tour of the impressive new development at Academic City.
On top of the trade in tangible goods, the UK and UAE are partners in education which is critical to the future of both our economies
The AED 100M structure features on-campus accommodation along with a variety of other student services, providing further added value to both local and international scholars.
Phase two is a five floor accommodation block comprising 160 rooms as well as a 700 seat auditorium, a range of leisure facilities, food court, a coffee house, shop and beauty salon.
Lord Green said, "The UK and UAE share an excellent business relationship which continues to grow. There was a 9% increase in UK exports to the UAE this year and an even larger increase in UAE exports to the UK.
"On top of the trade in tangible goods, the UK and UAE are partners in education which is critical to the future of both our economies.
"Since the establishment of a UK-UAE Taskforce in 2010, we continue to look at ways to collaborate even further."
Professor Steve Chapman,said, "We are delighted to welcome Lord Green to the new development as we embark on the latest chapter of our journey.
"This official opening is the realisation of a lot of planning and hard work for the University. The Dubai Campus, with its 3,500 students across a variety of disciplines, is of great importance to Heriot-Watt University's international expansion.
"We look forward to building on success here with the opening of Phase 2 and to offering an enhanced student experience."
The phase two development is part of the continuing development of Heriot-Watt's Dubai Campus, with further developments planned to meet growing demand for places.
The University is launching a number of PhD programmes in an effort to develop research capability at the campus. And will also lead and host international professional and research conferences, such as the International Psychology Conference Dubai which will take place on November.
The University is also looking forward to offering a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering with a focus on Petroleum, Oil and Gas.
Last September the University experienced a 66% increase in international students intake with that figure expected to rise again this year.