KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Malaysia has invited China and other Asean countries to join in the Malaysia Partnerships and Alliances in Research (MyPair) programme to carry out scientific-based learning.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad said the programme aimed to jointly develop research interests between funders of collaborating nations.

"Together, we can strengthen our respective research excellence through strategic partnerships and alliances,” she said in a pre-recorded speech at the Asean-China Education Ministers Round Table Conference, themed 'Building an Amicable Home Together: Asean-China Education Cooperation and Development Towards 2030' yesterday.

The hybrid conference was held in Guizhou, southwest China, in conjunction with the 15th China-Asean Education Cooperation Week and co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education China, China-Asean Centre, and the South-east Asian Ministers of Education Organisations (Seameo).

The conference, which aimed to strengthen educational cooperation between Asean and China, was chaired by China’s Education Minister Huai Jinpeng.

Noraini said China has produced measurable results with the application of big data during the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccines research, the wide rollout of 5G throughout the country and the launch of its space programme at the Tian Gong Space Station.

"At this juncture, I would like to acknowledge and applaud China for its progress in research and development throughout the years,” she said.

She also expressed Malaysia’s support for cooperation in the field of higher education that had been mutually beneficial for collaborating countries, and invited academicians, researchers and students from China and other Asean countries to visit Malaysia.

Noraini said Malaysia is ever ready to host them for collaborative research and innovation activities, student and staff mobility programmes or tertiary education.

"Malaysia looks forward to the exchange of ideas, the strengthening of existing relationships and forming of new ones from this event,” she added. — Bernama