PUTRAJAYA, Feb 27 — Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir’s working visit to Saudi Arabia and Turkiye starting today will further strengthen Malaysia’s potential as a major player in the regional and international higher education sector, particularly in the West Asia region.

It also opens opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation with both countries in the field of higher education, according to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), in a statement here today.

The ministry said Malaysia’s participation in the Human Capability Initiative (HCI) conference in Saudi Arabia and the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) 2024 in Turkiye would help expand opportunities to promote student, academic, researcher, administrative staff and leadership mobility programmes.

Zambry is on a working visit to both countries, Saudi Arabia from February 27-29, and Turkiye from March 1-3, upon the invitation of his counterpart, the Saudi Minister of Education Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan, to attend the HCI in Riyadh.

HCI is an international conference that brings together global leaders and thinkers, including policymakers, corporate sectors, investors, and academics, to unlock potential, enable international collaboration, and maximise resilience in the field of human capability development.

Themed #FutureReadiness, MOHE said Zambry would join a panel session with Al-Benyan to discuss issues related to the education system and foundations needed to nurture a resilient workforce in the present era.

Zambry is also expected to address developments in higher education in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), digitalisation and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Malaysia.

Zambry would also pay courtesy visits to the Minister of Education in Saudi Arabia, the Ministers of Education and Higher Education of Qatar, and the Minister of Education of Bahrain. A visit to the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah and a meeting session with several strategic education partners in Saudi Arabia are also scheduled.

Zambry will then continue his working visit to Turkiye to represent Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who received an invitation to attend and deliver the keynote address at the ADF 2024 in Antalya.

ADF 2024 is the third conference organised by the Turkish government as an international diplomacy and intellectual discussion platform by "united minds” worldwide in addressing global and regional challenges.

According to the statement, during ADF 2024, Zambry will participate in a panel session with the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud, the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Tharaka Balasuriya, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Minh Hang.

The panel session will discuss the readiness of the Asia-Pacific region in facing cross-border issues such as climate change, maritime security, terrorism and the impact of digital development and new technology in the region.

MOHE said Zambry is also scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Zambry will also visit Istanbul to witness the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and four Turkish higher education institutions, namely Karabuk University, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Dicle University and Gebze Technical University.

He will also witness MoU signing ceremonies between Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Unisza) and several universities in Istanbul. — Bernama