Seoul - WAM
His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the U.A.E. Armed Forces, met today with U.A.E. engineers and students attending graduate, post-graduate and training programmes at South Korean universities and technical institutes. Sheikh Mohamed, who was accompanied by H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, conversed with the U.A.E. students and interns about their specialisations. ''We are proud to see you in Korea gaining knowledge and training in prominent educational institutes for the transfer of rich expertise in advanced industries and technological programmes to their homeland so as to contribute to nation building and progress. You are up to our expectations and you are our real assets,'' Sheikh Mohamed said addressing the students. ''The UAE, under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pins high hopes and aspirations on the advanced knowledge-armed generations like you," Sheikh Mohamed said, adding that "Emirati human beings have been, and will always remain, the key focus of strategic plans and it is not strange that well-qualified, cultural and scientific human resources receive the top priority of the leadership. ''We stay the course of the late founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in paying proper attention and care to education. It is the same approach that President Khalifa is following in qualifying national human resources and grooming them for addressing the prerequisites of the present and challenges of the future,'' he added. Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation's (ENEC) training and development programme has been running since the company's inception in 2009, and aims to attract and train the country's most talented science students, engineering graduates and experienced professionals to provide them with an opportunity to become pioneers of the emerging nuclear energy sector. To date, ENEC has sent more than 300 Emirati engineers for on-job training programmes in Korea. It has also sent 115 students to study for higher diplomas in nuclear technology. A group of U.A.E. students are currently undergoing professional training on the basics of maintenance, support operations and basic engineering, which they will complete by May 2014. Currently, 100 engineers are undergoing the Reference Power Plant (RPP) programme in South Korea. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) is the federal authority responsible for building and operating the first U.A.E. nuclear power plant. By 2020, ENEC is expected to have a pool of 2000 professionals. It has developed a unique scholarship initiative to provide U.A.E. nationals with an unparalleled opportunity to be a part of what is expected to be a cornerstone of the U.A.E.'s power supply industry for decades to come.