PUTRAJAYA, March 5 — Seven countries have agreed to collaborate with Malaysia to expand higher education mediation programmes, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir.

In a statement today, Zambry, a former foreign minister, said the agreement was reached following his meeting with his former counterpart when attending the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) 2024 in Antalya, Turkiye, recently.

Among them were Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister II, who also serves as Foreign Minister; Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister; Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister; Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Minister; Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister; the President of Libya’s Supreme Council; the President of the Turkish Maarif Foundation; and Turkiye’s Foreign Minister.

Zambry said at the ADF, he conducted eight bilateral meetings with foreign ministers, addressing multiple areas of interest, including matters pertaining to the higher education sector.

"We’ve reached agreements with all these countries to expand our national higher education internationalisation programme, encompassing student and lecturer exchanges, research and common areas of interest that can be explored together,” he said.

Zambry, who represented Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the forum, noted that countries like Iraq and Libya expressed readiness to extend larger scholarships for their students to pursue studies in Malaysia.

During his visit to Istanbul, he witnessed the signing ceremony and the exchange of agreements between Universiti Utara Malaysia and five universities in Turkiye, namely Karabuk University, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Dicle University, Gebze Technical University, and Mardin Artuklu University.

"This collaboration is highly beneficial, particularly for the country, to establish an educational network with international institutions, fostering the exchange and transfer of knowledge and skills through various mediums,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zambry said Malaysia was honoured to be a panellist for the session titled ‘Building Asia-Pacific Regional Architectures: The Challenge of Unmatching Interest’ at a conference attended by almost 4,000 delegates from 100 nations.

During the session, he conveyed Malaysia’s and the Prime Minister’s insights on the Asia-Pacific issue, which is garnering increasing concern from major powers across the globe.

"I emphasise Malaysia’s desire for a free region, and we stand ready to collaborate with all parties to ensure the stability of the region,” he said. — Bernama