KUALA LUMPUR: Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir's four-day working visit to Switzerland, which began on Friday (Sept 6), aims to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and internationalise Malaysia's higher education.
The Higher Education Ministry, in a statement Saturday (Sept 7), says that the visit, at the invitation of the World Trade Institute (WTI), also provides an opportunity for Malaysia to enhance Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
According to the ministry, Zambry will be a panelist at the International Trade Forum and deliver a speech at a roundtable conference titled "The Role of Asean Higher Education in Supporting the Asean Economic Community" at the World Economic Forum Headquarters on Monday.
KPT also states that Zambry has held a bilateral meeting with the head of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Professor Dr Martina Hirayama.
The ministry says the meeting addressed various aspects including the exchange programmes for students, lecturers and researchers between the two countries, which could provide more opportunities for broad cooperation across the Asean region through Malaysia and the European continent through Switzerland.
SERI is a specialised agency that manages education, research and innovation policy for Switzerland.
The ministry adds that Switzerland is one of the countries actively promoting TVET education from the vocational level.
"This aligns with the national TVET Policy currently being implemented, and it is beneficial for both countries to share and exchange views on TVET," the statement says.
According to the ministry, Zambry and his delegation will also visit the University of Bern to meet its rector, Professor Dr Virginia Richter, and visit the ARTORG Centre for Biomedical Engineering, which conducts special research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) in biomedicine.
Zambry is also scheduled to visit the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), renowned for its research and home to more than 500 laboratories across the campus. – Bernama
