Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) – Singapore’s oldest not-for-profit professional institute for lifelong learning, has signed a deal with Education@Iskandar Sendirian Berhad (EISB), a member of the Iskandar Investment Group, to set up a 30-acre MDIS Campus in EduCity in Iskandar Malaysia.
The RM163-million (S$70 million) investment is MDIS’ first project in Malaysia and the second campus abroad, after it launched the Tashkent campus in Uzbekistan in 2008. MDIS is the first private tertiary education institute in the country to venture into EduCity.
MDIS Campus (Malaysia) will be independently financed by the institute using its cash reserves and will be operated by a Malaysia-incorporated firm, which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of MDIS International Pte Ltd.
The new campus will be five times bigger than the Singapore MDIS campus and will feature state-of-the art education facilities including lecture theatres, computer laboratories, a hospitality training centre and mass communication studios. Other facilities in the school include a hostel with eco-friendly elements and sports, recreation and entertainment facilities such as a video games arcade, karaoke rooms and food court.
The deal between MDIS and EISB was signed before Malaysian Minister of Higher Education Y. B. Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Singapore High Commissioner To Malaysia HE T.Jasudasen and Deputy Chairman of MDIS Senate Mr. S Chandra Das.
“The education sector in Malaysia is growing rapidly with an estimated 46,530 international students from 150 countries studying here today. EduCity is set to be a premier education hub in Southeast Asia. The establishment of MDIS Campus (Malaysia) in Iskandar Malaysia reflects the high standard of education we are providing to international and local students in the region,” said Arlida Ariff, EISB chairman and CEO of Iskandar Investment.
Dr. R. Theyvendran, PBM, Secretary-General of MDIS said: “This marks another milestone in MDIS’s globalisation efforts. MDIS is delighted to be the first Singapore private tertiary institution to set up such an extensive full-fledge campus in Iskandar Malaysia. The Malaysian market offers great potential for MDIS to tap on the significant growth of the country’s education sector.”
“EduCity in Iskandar Malaysia has a solid infrastructure, logistics management, and other physical amenities and facilities allowing MDIS to replicate their successful education model in the MDIS Campus (Malaysia),” added Dr. Theyvendran.