By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Abd Raai Osman

JAKARTA, 20 Nov 2015 – The National University of Malaysia (UKM) has broadened  cooperation with 15 Indonesian higher learning institutions and an  Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT).

The collaboration was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by UKM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali with rectors and deputy rectors of the higher education and research institutions, here today.

Prof Noor Azlan said the MoU is to provide more opportunities for Indonesian students to do their Master and Doctorate degrees at UKM, increasing levels of  expertise and development of human capital for all parties involved, such as student and lecturer exchanges, co-writing of papers for high-impact international journals and the strengthening of ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.

“Till now, higher education cooperation between UKM with the government of  Indonesia was implemented through various means, such as conferences, forums, discussion, lecturer exchange, visits, and joint reviews” he said to reporters at the MoU Signing Ceremony.

He said so far there has been 80 cooperation agreements in the form of Letter of Intent (Lol), 23 MoU’s and four Memorandum of Agreements (MoA) between UKM with the Indonesia government and various institutions in Indonesia.

“The cooperation was strengthened when there are 13 academicians of Indonesia is currently being served at UKM,” he added.

Prof Noor Azlan said UKM as a Research University (RU), focuses intensively in high impact research findings.

“This was followed by publications and inputs to policies to resolve issues  together,” he said.

He said the MoU involves four faculties at UKM  such as the  Engineering and Built Environment, Islamic Studies, Fuel Cell Institute and Graduate Centre.

He elaborated that number of UKM postgraduates now stands at 11,169 and 333 of them are from Indonesia, while the total alumni members from Indonesia is more than 3,000.

He expressed hope that the cooperation will be a platform for efforts to enhance the proliferation of knowledge which can have a positive impact on communities in both countries as well as other states in the region.

The Indonesian institutions of higher education which signed the MoU are Universitas Malikussaleh (UNIMAL), Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara (UINSU), Universitas Sriwijaya (UNSRI), Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara (UMSU), Universitas Medan Area (UMA) and Univeritas Muslim Nusantara (UMN) Al Washliyah.

Other institutes are Akademi Teknik Indonesia Cut Meutia (ATICM), Universitas Bung Hatta (UBH), Universitas Putra Indonesia “YPYK” Padang, Universitas Serang Raya (UNISERA), Universitas Mercu Buana (UMB), STIE Bisnis Indonesia (STIEBI), Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Cirebon (UNTAG) and Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII).

The event was witnessed by Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim.

Zahrain said academic collaboration between UKM and  the higher education institutions in Indonesia is the key for both countries to strengthen ties and stimulate progress in the region.

“The academic collaboration of both countries have been carried out for a long time. Now there are about 15,000 Indonesian students in Malaysia and there are about 5,000 Malaysians studying in Indonesia,” he said.

He said what is important now is a platform for coordinating efforts to achieve this agenda.

“The agenda is to prioritise understanding between the two countries in various fields and the best way to do it is through academics,” he added.