MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA TO FORM JOINT RESEARCH CLUSTER INVOLVING UNIVERSITIES

JAKARTA, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia will further strengthen research collaboration between their higher education institutions (HEIs) and researchers, particularly in areas such as food security, the green economy, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the initiative was among the key issues discussed during his meeting with his counterpart, Prof Brian Yuliarto, here on Sunday.

“We have in principle agreed to establish clusters in these fields by identifying experts from Malaysia and Indonesia to work together in developing the identified areas.

“Both countries possess valuable expertise that should neither be sidelined nor left untapped elsewhere,” he told Bernama after the meeting.

Zambry, who arrived in Jakarta on Saturday for a two-day working visit to the Indonesian capital, said the collaboration would involve several identified HEIs in both countries, as well as research experts under the Malaysia–Indonesia Academic Consortium (KAMI).

“We have already begun preliminary discussions, where representatives from Education Malaysia have initiated talks with the Director General of Higher Education here.

“As a result, we will leave it to the education authorities and teams from both countries. We do not have a timeline at this point, as the research areas will first need to be identified,” he said.

Earlier, Zambry also visited the Bogor Agricultural Institute and met with Malaysian students to explore potential areas in agriculture and food security for joint development.

-- BERNAMA