Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed, chairwoman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, closed her visit to Seoul with a meeting centred on the UAE’s state-sponsored scholarship programme and the oversight of its students’ academic development abroad.
The session gathered Emirati scholarship students enrolled at leading South Korean universities, where their programmes span advanced engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, data analysis, advanced digital technologies, and innovation and technology management. Two senior officials attended alongside Sheikha Latifa: Maryam Al Hammadi, Minister of State and Secretary General of the UAE Cabinet, and Aisha Miran, director general of Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
During the meeting, Sheikha Latifa reviewed the students’ academic progress, their areas of specialisation and their experiences of studying in Korea, together with the country’s broader higher education and research sector. Discussions also covered the support and resources available to help Emirati students succeed academically, a point of direct relevance to the government bodies responsible for administering the scholarship programme.
“Our scholarship students embody the UAE’s values in the communities where they study,” she said. “We take pride in their dedication and ambition. The knowledge and expertise they gain will shape their personal and professional growth, while contributing to the opportunities we create for future generations.”
She commended the discipline and passion shown by the students and encouraged them to make full use of Korea’s scientific and technological advances, so they can bring world-class expertise and best practices back to the UAE. Their capabilities, she said, would help drive innovation, strengthen the country’s competitiveness and support its growth as a centre for knowledge and advanced technology.
The students, for their part, said the visit encouraged them to pursue academic excellence and apply their knowledge in service of the UAE’s future.
Meanwhile, the engagement formed part of a wider institutional delegation to Seoul that included representatives from Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Police, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Digital Authority and other government organisations, signalling the breadth of official interest in the South Korean capital across multiple arms of the Dubai government.
The visit and its accompanying remarks underscore how the UAE treats its scholarship programme as a matter of institutional policy rather than individual study abroad, with ministers and authority heads directly monitoring student progress and the resources committed to it. Coverage of the meeting was carried by The National, whose report is available at https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/31/sheikha-latifa-meets-emirati-scholarship-students-in-south-korea/
By meeting students in person and reviewing their specialisations, the officials effectively conducted a direct check on the returns generated by a government-funded pipeline into advanced technology fields, from artificial intelligence and data analysis to innovation management. The presence of both a federal minister and the head of Dubai’s education regulator reflected the shared responsibility for the programme across levels of government.
The students’ role in that framework, as described at the meeting, is twofold: to complete demanding technical programmes at leading Korean universities and to transfer the resulting expertise back into national institutions. The emphasis placed on support mechanisms during the discussions indicated that the authorities see academic success abroad as a measurable outcome for which the relevant bodies remain accountable.
As the delegation wrapped up its Seoul programme, the meeting stood as the closing institutional engagement of the visit, tying together the officials’ broader agenda with the human capital the scholarship scheme is designed to produce. Whether the direct oversight demonstrated in Seoul becomes a regular feature of the programme’s administration remains an open question for the bodies that manage it.