Eight local IPTs forge strategic ties with six Tatarstan universities

PUTRAJAYA - Eight Malaysian higher learning institutions (IPT) have established strategic collaborations with six universities from Tatarstan in various academic fields in a bid to strengthen bilateral cooperation in higher education.

The strategic collaborations resulted in the signing of seven memoranda of understanding (MoU), one memorandum of agreement (MoA), two letters of collaboration (LoC), and one addendum.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and the Tatarstan government representative, Aide to the Rais Professor A Kh Gimutdinov, witnessed the exchange of all signed agreements between all parties concerned.

The eight local IPTs involved were Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation Malaysia, Multimedia University, University of Cyberjaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur campus, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysian Institute of Art.

The six universities from Tatarstan were Kazan Federal University, Innopolis University, Kazan State Agrarian University, Kazan State Academy of Veterinary Medicine, Kazan National Research Technological University, and Kazan State Institute of Culture.

MOHE director-general Prof Dr Azlinda Azman said the collaborations between local IPTs and Tatarstan universities encompass several disciplines such as Islamic banking, Islamic finance, the halal industry, robotics, veterinary medicine, and natural sciences.

All the agreed strategic collaborations were the outcome of Mohamed Khaled's working visit with the involved universities to the Kazan 2023 Forum in Tatarstan in May, she added.

"The majority of these MoUs focus on ways to strengthen collaborations in higher education, particularly with universities in Malaysia.

"The goal is to improve research and academic collaborations, including student and faculty exchanges and industrial training," she told Bernama today.

Meanwhile, MOHE deputy secretary Datuk Dr Megat Sany Megat Ahmad Supian said the collaborations between local higher education institutions and universities in Tatarstan allows Malaysia to expand its expertise to foreign countries as well as share experiences in related fields. - BERNAMA