On 17 December 2020, the 1st Malaysia-China (Yunnan) Higher Education Dialogue 2020 was successfully held in Kunming with the Consulate General of Malaysia Kunming and Educational Section of the Malaysian Embassy in China as the host and the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education as the co-organizer.
The Consul General of Malaysia to Kunming and the Deputy Secretary-General of Yunnan Education Commission of CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee was invited to deliver their opening remark at the said dialogue while Ybhg Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr. Ir Mohd Azraai Kassim, Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Mr. Yang Zeyu, Vice President of Yunnan Universities have delivered their keynote addresses, respectively.
The theme of this year's dialogue is “Strengthens Friendship; Explore Future”. The main objective of the said online-offline dialogue is to carry forward the agenda of strengthening the exchanges and resource sharing between Yunnan and Malaysia in the field of higher education while helping to further deepen the friendship between Malaysia and China.
A total of 25 universities, 14 from Yunnan and 11 from Malaysia have participated namely, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Multimedia Malaysia University, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Universiti Tenaga Nasional Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, University College Yayasan Pahang, UOW Malaysia KDU and Swinburne University Sarawak.
While for the Yunnan side, the participating universities include Kunming University of science and technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming Medical University, Kunming University, Dali University, Yunnan University, Southwest Forestry University, Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yunnan Normal University, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Yunnan Minzu University, Yuxi Normal University, Yunnan Arts University, and Yunnan Open University.
At the end of the dialogue, the participating experts agreed to adhere to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, to carry out more extensive and deeper cooperation, and to create a new future of higher education cooperation between Yunnan and Malaysia.
As continuity and platform for future cooperation, the 2nd Malaysia-China (Yunnan) Higher Education Dialogue is expected to be held in 2021 with the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education as the host.
Subsequently, after the Dialogue, all participating invitees for dialogue attended the Dinner Reception hosted by the Consul General of Malaysia in Kunming at the Ballroom of the Crown Plaza Hotel, Kunming. While enjoying varieties of foods and delicacies of Malaysian styles of cooking, all invitees were entertained with the performances of Malay dances, poetry and singing in Malay by the students of the Malay Language Faculty of Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming.
The VIP of the said Dinner Reception was the Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan, Madam Poh Hong who also took the floor together with the Consul General and the Director of Education Malaysia to witness the presentation ceremony of the Malaysian Education Friendship Medal to 11 Yunnan's universities.
