Business

Monday September 14, 2009

Much to gain by having foreign universities


EduCity, one of the seven signature developments in Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia, will be positioned as the leading educational hub in the region. Iskandar Investment Bhd senior vice-president (education & healthcare) Khairil Anwar Ahmad talks to StarBiz on a range of subjects.

STARBIZ: How do you see the presence of foreign universities in EduCity benefitting the country?

Khairil: Foreign universities will bring in intellectual capital and we can encourage them to work and collaborate with local public universities through joint-research opportunities and student exchange programmes.

For instance, Newcastle University Medicine (NUMed) is not stingy in sharing knowledge with others; its focus is on public health and it wants to be part of the community.

In fact, the university last year conducted a free seminar for doctors from all over Johor together with the state Health Department.

»A lot of universities are looking at what they call transnational education beyond their borders « KHAIRIL ANWAR AHMAD

The department was happy as this was an opportunity for doctors to gain new knowledge. (In future) all NUMed students from the Nusajaya campus will do their housemanship in 15 public hospitals in Johor.

StarBiz: How big is the education sector in Iskandar Malaysia, particularly at EduCity?

Khairil: I can’t give you the exact dollar value but the economic spin-offs are there in terms of creating job opportunities, not only for the academic staff but also other support services.

Phase One of EduCity will have four universities with 4,000 local and international students. These universities will need related products and services for their staff and students such as in catering, office supply and information technology.

Let us look at NUMed for instance; it will generate 200 job opportunities when opened in May 2011 and in terms of operation, it will spend millions of ringgit yearly and that millions will go into the local economy.

StarBiz: Why do these universities need to open branch campuses away from their home countries?

Khairil: They feel that the world is becoming a smaller place and things are turning global. A lot of universities are looking at what they call transnational education beyond their borders.

Most of them see that Asia is a good market because of the population, lower operating cost, there is a hunger for knowledge and it is becoming too expensive to study in Britain or the United States.

Khairil Anwar Ahmad showing the model of EduCity in Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia

At the same time, they are looking for new opportunities in research and development. To them, it is not money gained but more on the knowledge gained.

Again on NUMed; they can learn about tropical diseases such as dengue or malaria, which back in Britain, the students only read about in books, but here they can do research and gain knowledge.

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