MALAYSIA and Russia signed eight memorandum of understanding (MOUs) involving higher education institutions of both countries to strengthen and expand cooperation in various fields.

Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the MOUs include establishing mirror labs, student mobility, satellite labs, double degrees, matching grants, joint academic and research programmes; enhancement of learning curricula; and training and technology transfer.

He said a mirror lab between the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in St. Petersburg and Azman Hashim International Business School (AHIBS) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) had earlier been launched.

“We now have a mirror lab between AHIBS, UTM and the Laboratory for Reputation Management in Education, HSE, which involves studying and developing social entrepreneurship through a cross-country analysis,” he said

He was speaking to reporters after he and Russia’s Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov witnessed the exchange of MoUs at the 2nd Meeting of the Joint Russia-Malaysia Commission for Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation in Kuala Lumpur today.

Khaled said the collaboration also includes promoting the Malay language in Russia and vice versa, where the Malay language is used as the medium in several conferences and seminars in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“This cooperation will expand educational opportunities and promote cultural exchange and language learning, promoting the Russian language in Malaysia and vice versa,” he said.

He said the Higher Education Ministry has also agreed to recognise all degrees granted by Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science.

“The recognition of professional programs is subjected to acceptance by the relevant bodies in Malaysia,” he said.

Meanwhile, Valery said both countries are looking forward to an expansion of collaboration, which promises to benefit Russia and Malaysia significantly.

“I hope this cooperation will have a major impact, create opportunities for our business communities and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and technology,” he said. – Bernama, November 9, 2023.