JEDDAH: The third Middle East Education and Training Exhibition, the leading student recruitment event in the region, launched on Tuesday at the Jeddah Center for Forums and Conferences to cater to the rising academic aspirations of the student community in the Kingdom. This exhibition, which runs until Thursday, is being held under the patronage of the Ministry of Education. Featuring more than 120 leading universities and training institutes from across the world, the show presents an array of undergraduate and postgraduate academic and occupational courses to help local and expat students hunting for higher education, professional development, and training options. Additionally, students can leverage the expertise and services of career guidance counselors attending the event.   Representatives from the US, Canada, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Malaysia, Switzerland, the UAE, Bahrain, Britain and Jordan are present alongside local institutions and universities. The opening ceremony was held in the presence of Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Jalawi, governor of Jeddah. At the opening ceremony, the Jeddah governor emphasized on the importance of education as one of the basic pillars of the comprehensive and sustainable development process. He pointed out that Saudi Arabia pays great attention to the advancement of education under the guidance of the country’s wise leadership in developing a world-class higher education system to prepare the youth for the future. While touring the exhibition, Arthur James Bell, public officer at the Consulate General of the US, told Arab News that he was “very pleased and proud to see this reopening and reimagining of Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the world in terms of educational institutions.  “We, as the US, are so happy to see 28 separate education institutions participating this year, and we know that this number will grow in the coming editions. We all know the history between the two countries in terms of education cooperation,” he added. Bell continued: “Hundreds of thousands of Saudi students have been educated in the US, and many of them have returned home and are now actively contributing to the ambitious 2030 Vision.” Meanwhile, Waleed Wakid, CEO of ICON International for Exhibitions, noted that the exhibition serves the needs of the local student community and offers education providers the opportunity to personally engage with aspiring students. “Furthermore, it gives students the opportunity to compare the various study alternatives available to them, evaluate fee structures, and get information that is crucial to their decision-making process,” he said. The exhibition will also include several specialized workshops, with the participation of specialists and researchers in the various fields of the exhibition. The workshops will be held in conjunction with the exhibition, equipped with the latest equipment and modern technologies.