So great to be at the event with universities, regulators, and investors in higher education. There's a lot of opportunity for Dubai to continue growing enrollments in higher education.
Amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm for what Dubai has to offer.
Dubai's higher education sector has once again broken records. More than forty two thousand students are now enrolled across forty one higher education institutions, a twenty percent year on year increase. One of the most exciting game changer projects under our Education thirty three strategy is city of students, our commitment to making Dubai the global destination of choice for learners from around the world. International enrollment has already tripled in recent years, and by two thousand and thirty three, our goal is for international students to make up half of all enrollments, not just because it's a strong metric, but because it represents the kind of city we're building, diverse, dynamic, and driven by knowledge.
Globally, the trend that has been consistent, a mega theme that we back as Enrique is the movement of international students. Right? That on an annual basis had grown at seven percent on a year on year basis.
Just picking up on one of those points on the higher education strategy. Give us a little bit of flavor of is there a pivot in how Dubai looks at the higher education sector? Is it going to be a continued focus on enablement?
I think the philosophy will remain the same that, you know, we work with the private sector. In addition, there will be the national university that will drive some of that change. But we also realize that we need to start, to shift focus to research, to innovation, to entrepreneurship. But I don't think the philosophy will change.
Dubai never rests on its laurels, and I think if we can work together to ensure that Dubai higher education continues to register double digit and beyond growth, We can not only serve our own communities here in Dubai, but actually serve the world.
