Apple chief executive Tim Cook and Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai met in Beirut on Saturday to launch a partnership on the education of girls, Britain’s The Independent newspaper reported. They met to announce “a groundbreaking tie-up between the tech giant and the women’s rights campaigner that will see funding and resources offered to Malala to help deliver her fund’s goal of getting 100,000 girls into education in places including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Turkey and Nigeria,” the daily said on Monday. “I met Malala in Oxford in October last year [she is reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University]. I reached out to Malala just to meet her,” the Independent quoted Cook as saying. “We began to talk and it became so clear that she had such a bold vision. It really lined up with the boldness of Apple and that the core of it is an overriding belief in equality and that education is the great equalizer. And that has always been at the root of our company and my personal beliefs. And so it started, the fire was lit there. I instantly wanted to throw in on the vision that Malala had.” Malala continued with her side of the story, saying Apple has expertise. “Then the question was, how can we use that? The Malala Fund is trying to reach out to girls, how can we bring these two together to reach more girls, as many as we can, to empower them through quality education. And that was my dream. So, things started happening and I just can’t believe it has been a few months and now we are here in Lebanon and announcing our partnership for the coming years.”