As part of its strategic partnership with the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Medical and Educational Sciences, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in cooperation with MS Asia for Educational and Development Services, launched the second phase of its regional project “Language Immersion for Arabic Learners in Southeast Asia.” The two-month program began on Thursday, 11 September 2025, in Phnom Penh, the capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The opening ceremony was attended by high-level officials, including Mr. Nos Sles, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Vice-chair of the National Committee for Lifelong Learning; Mr. Qumri Ibrahim, Adviser to the Cambodian Government; Mr. Hassan Saleh, Director of the Union of Islamic Educational Institutions in Cambodia; Sheikh Ashary Saleh, President of Cambodian Muslim Cooperative; and Dr. Mutwakil Abdellatif Elfadni, Director of MS Asia for Educational and Development Services, along with prominent social and cultural figures.

ICESCO was represented at the ceremony by Dr. Adham Ali Hamawiya, expert at ICESCO Center of Arabic for Non-Arabic Speakers. In his address, he highlighted the Organization’s commitment to the Arabic language through a range of projects, programs, and initiatives aimed at promoting Arabic and strengthening its global presence. He stressed that ICESCO aspires for its language immersion program to become a hallmark of its efforts to advance Arabic, inspired by global language immersion models.

Following the ceremony, ICESCO’s representative held a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, who expressed his appreciation for choosing Cambodia as one of the host countries for the Language Immersion for Arabic Learners Project. He also voiced his desire to build long-term sustainable cooperation with ICESCO and its strategic partners in the fields of education, science, and culture to promote the values of tolerance and coexistence in Cambodian society.