NUSAJAYA: The EduCity project in Iskandar Malaysia
has attracted some RM700mil in investments with the setting up of
several international universities, says Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin who is also Education Minister, said
that 70% of Educity has been developed with three university campuses
and two shared facilities.
“Besides EduCity, the Government is
also developing Pagoh into a multi-varsity education hub and Bandar Sri
Alam in Pasir Gudang as a ‘City of Knowledge’,” he said at the
ground-breaking ceremony of Management Development Institute of
Singapore (MDIS) here yesterday.
MDIS, founded in 1956, is
Singapore’s oldest non-profit professional institute for lifelong
learning. It will invest RM300mil for its campus, which is expected to
open in 2015.
Muhyididn said EduCity, which covers an area of 121ha, was now drawing the attention of many international investors.
He stressed that the cross-border investments between Malaysia and
Singapore were complementing each country’s economy and it was not a
rivalry.
“Singapore boasts some of the best tertiary learning
institutions in the world. There is much we can gain by joining forces
to woo the best brains to study within our shores instead of competing
with each other,” he added.
Malaysia is currently ranked the 11th
largest exporter of educational services, providing a place to study
for more than 90,000 students from over 100 nations.
Muhyiddin said the country hoped to more than double the figure to 200,000 students by 2020.
The integrated MDIS green campus would have state-of-the-art facilities
to accommodate 2,000 students and this will be MDIS’ third campus after
its headquarters and main campus in Singapore and its sister campus in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Other campuses within the EduCity include
Newcastle University, Malborough College Malaysia and University of
Southampton, while the Netherlands Maritime Institute of Technology is
expected to open next month.
Later during a meet-the-people
session at Kampung Maju Jaya in Kempas, Muhyiddin said the move to
increase the price of RON95 and diesel by 20 sen has been positively
received by investors and economists.
“Although it was a painful decision it had to be made to ensure the country’s economy is stable,” he said.
He said that if the Government did not take the necessary steps to
increase the price of fuel, it would be worse for the country’s economy.
- Contributed by The Star/Asia News Network.
Malaysia Aims To Attract 200,000 International Students By 2020
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin looking at MDIS campus model after ground breaking ceremony of the campus at Educity Nusajaya Johor
NUSAJAYA,
Sept 5 (Bernama) -- The government aims to attract at least 200,000
international students to Malaysia by 2020, further cementing the
country's status as one of the world's largest exporters of educational
services, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Thursday.
The deputy prime minister and education minister said Malaysia had
increased its attractiveness as a tertiary education provider in the
global market place.
The country is currently the world's 11th largest exporter of
educational services, providing a place to study for over 90,000
students from over 100 nations, he said.
Muhyiddin spoke at the ground-breaking of the Nusajaya campus of the
Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) at Educity,
Nusajaya, here.
The RM300-million MDIS campus is the largest overseas investment for the Singapore-based educational institution.
Muhyiddin said the education services sector was one of the targeted
nine economic pillars in the Comprehensive Development Plan of the
Iskandar Malaysia development corridor, offering excellent investment
opportunities for local and foreign investors.
The government, he said, had made a conscious decision to prioritise the private education sector.
"One of the Entry Point Projects identified under Malaysia's Economic
Transformation Programme is to transform the economic growth corridor in
Johor into Asia's choice destination for education by attracting
renowned international universities and colleges," he said.
Educity in Nusajaya will make world-class education more accessible to
Malaysians and other people in the region, he said, adding that the
education enclave was expected to accommodate 16,000 students at full
capacity.
The deputy prime minister said 214 acres (86.6 hectares) or 70 per cent
of the total 300 acres (121.4 hectares) of Educity had been developed,
with three campuses and two shared facilities currently in full
operation.
These include the campuses of Newcastle University, Marlborough College
Malaysia and University of Southampton, while the Netherlands Maritime
Institute of Technology is scheduled to open its campus next month.
"We will see more institutions operating in Educity in the next three years," said Muhyiddin.
He said he was pleased that the tertiary education sector in Iskandar
Malaysia was now drawing the attention of many international investors,
including those from Singapore.
Besides MDIS, another Singapore group, Raffles Education Corp, is
developing a RM200-million self-contained dedicated campus known as the
Raffles University Iskandar, which is due to open in 2015.
Muhyiddin welcomed such cross-border investments from Singapore, saying
the republic boasted some of the best tertiary institutions in the
world and Educity in Nusajaya could complement the republic's
attractiveness as an education hub.
"There is much we can gain by joining forces to woo the best brains to
study within our shores, instead of competing against one another, which
will only result in lost opportunities and failure to capitalise on our
strategic strengths," he said.
-- BERNAMA
MDIS makes S$116m footprint in Iskandar
JOHOR — Singapore has increased its presence in the Iskandar area
across the border, with private education provider Management
Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) breaking ground on its RM300
million (S$116 million) Malaysia campus yesterday.
At almost five times the size of its Singapore campus, MDIS
Iskandar is an example of the keen interest in Malaysia’s first
economic growth corridor. Singapore firms — such as Temasek, Ascendas
and CapitaLand — have invested about S$2.5 billion in Iskandar since it
was set up in 2006, making the country the largest foreign investor,
according to the Iskandar Regional Development Authority.
“We
welcome such cross-border investments ... Students from various
countries have long found it attractive and convenient to pursue their
higher-education goals in Singapore. The demand for seats has risen in
Singapore, herein lies the strategic advantage of Johor’s EduCity in
terms of strategic location, land availability as well as excellent
logistical network,” said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin bin
Mohd Yassin, who was the guest of honour at the groundbreaking ceremony.
The 12ha freehold site in EduCity, Nusajaya, will be the second
overseas MDIS campus and its largest to date. Its first campus abroad
was set up in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in 2008 for US$20
million (S$25.5 million).
“MDIS Malaysia represents another major
step in the firm’s overall strategy to expand our global footprint,”
said Dr R Theyvendran, Secretary-General of MDIS.
The Malaysia campus will offer nine diploma courses in business and accounting, information technology and mass communications.
The
first phase of MDIS Malaysia is expected to be ready by 2015 to
accommodate 2,000 students. Meanwhile, the first batch of about 100
Malaysian students will begin lessons in business management and mass
communications at the end of this month at a temporary campus in Johor
Bahru City Square, MDIS said. When fully completed in 2023, the campus
will be able to enrol 10,000 students.
MDIS said initial
enrolment will focus on Malaysian students, with admission of
international students at a later phase. The institution is eyeing
students from Africa and the Middle East for the Malaysia campus, said
Dr Theyvendran.
Malaysia aims to have at least 200,000
international students pursuing higher education in the country by 2020,
up from about 90,000 now.
“The education enclave in EduCity will
make world-class education more accessible to Malaysians and other
people in the region,” Mr Muhyiddin said. He added that EduCity will
have institutions at pre-school, primary and secondary levels, making it
an “integrated world-class academic hub”.
The 121ha
EduCity@Iskandar
is a major flagship development in Johor’s Iskandar area, and has
attracted more than RM700 million in investments. At full capacity,
EduCity is expected to admit 16,000 students.
Eleven educational
institutions have committed to developing campuses there, according to
EduCity’s website, while the University of Southampton, Newcastle
University and Marlborough College Malaysia have already started full
operations.
Singapore’s Raffles Education Corp is also developing an RM200 million campus at EduCity.
- Contributed by Lee Yen Nee
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