£20m plans for Heriot-Watt's Malaysian campus revealed

Heriot-Watt University is to expand to Malaysia after winning a £20 million tender to develop a new 4,000-student capacity university campus in the country’s federal administrative centre of Putrajaya.

The university's reputation for forging connections between education, industry and commerce won Heriot-Watt the tender. The decision was made on Monday 14 November by the Malaysian Government and Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, the firm which is to deliver the new campus.

Datuk Azlan, CEO of Putrajaya Holdings, said: “As an established provider of international and transnational education, coupled with its success in Dubai, Heriot-Watt University was the clear choice for delivering a stellar education offering and a new campus in Malaysia.”

Construction will commence in 2012 on the purpose-built campus, with a capacity for 4,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Courses will be offered in business, science, engineering, mathematics and design.

Professor Steve Chapman, Principal of Heriot-Watt stated: “The move will see Heriot-Watt University provide the opportunity for thousands of students from Malaysia and international markets to take advantage of…top-level degree programs.”

Heriot-Watt opened its first international campus in Dubai in 2005. As in Dubai, Malaysia’s graduates will be awarded UK-recognised graduate degrees and afforded the opportunity to transfer to the Scottish campus after one year of study, promoting greater intellectual exchange between Malaysia and the UK.

“We recognise that the benefits of this partnership will go much further than creating an environment for learning...education is one of the most critical drivers for our transformation to a high-income nation, with its impact on productivity and human capital development”, added Mr Azlan.

Scottish students will also benefit from the connection with the Malaysian economy. Malaysia’s economy sports one of the fastest growth rates in Asia of 7.2 per cent, and Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas was recently listed as the most profitable company in Asia.