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Message from the Vice Chancellor MESSAGE NO.
14

Dear Campus Community,

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
10 DECEMBER 2024
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and Salam Sejahtera
I want to send a two-part message to the entire campus community. The first is about
the recent positive developments that bring honour and pride to the university.
1. The visit and lecture by His Excellency To Lam of Vietnam, remains an important
avenue to the university in deepening ties and exploring new frontiers in giving
the best returns to both sides, capitalising on Vietnam’s new strengths in the
economic, geopolitical, and diplomatic fields, as well as the capacities in critical
areas of the future.
2. We are eager to play a pivotal role in this relationship, acting as a bridge for
shared knowledge, research, and innovation, especially when Vietnam allocates
a significant portion of its GDP to education, aiming to build a knowledge-driven
economy.
3. Exciting new areas of importance include sustainable agriculture, climate
management, zero carbon and green agenda, disaster response, renewable
energy, food security, supply chain resilience, and high technology manufacturing.
4. These are among the various new openings being discussed in the bilateral
meeting between me and the top management of UM with H.E. To Lam and the 47
top officials from his delegation.
5. There are big openings for greater collaborations between Universiti Malaya and
top institutions from Vietnam, from joint research in critical fields to advancement
in key industries that benefit both nations and the region.
6. We have also proposed and discussed, in the meeting, the setting up of Vietnam –
Malaya Centre for Economic Sustainability and Culture as the platform for greater
exchanges and collaborations in key critical areas for the benefit of both nations
in advancing resilience and competitiveness.
7. This new initiative and the establishment of the Centre will focus on 14 key areas,
which will be the main platform for advancing these new critical fields that will
bring positive returns to both countries. These fields, ranging from food and
energy security to digital economy and Artificial Intelligence, all mark the same
alignments of our new research thrust areas.
8. We have also discussed the various platforms for deeper engagements in the fields
of human capital advancement, key technologies, higher education and research
capacity and science and technological advancement, where H.E. To Lam has
mentioned in the Public Lecture as among the Four Pillars in the new chapter
of Malaysia-Vietnam ties, which has now been upgraded to Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership.
9. In his speech, H.E. To Lam portrays his gratitude and delight to speak at Universiti
Malaya, which is descrived as a beacon of educational excellence in Malaysia and
serving as a leading hub of knowledge within the ASEAN community.
10. In his words, His Excellency pointed out the university’s groundbreaking
achievements in education and research significantly contribute to Malaysia’s
sustainable development and offer impactful benefits to the entire ASEAN region,
with advancements spanning technology, medicine, environmental science, and
international studies.