The Third Seminar on the Twin Parks Cooperation between China and Malaysia (Two Countries, Twin Parks) (第三届“中马两国双园合作”学术研讨会) was jointly organised by Guangxi University for Nationalities (GXUN), UTAR, China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park (CMQIP) Administrative Committee, CMQIP Group Holding Co. Ltd., and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) on 18 December 2020 at GXUN, China. The seminar was also conducted through VOOV Meeting.

“Two Countries, Twin Parks” seminar was co-organised by the National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China Research Center for Political Culture and Public Governance of ASEAN Countries (中国国家民委东盟国家政治文化与公共治理研究中心); GXUN’s College of Ethnology and Sociology, College of ASEAN Studies, School of Politics and Public Administration, School of Management and School of Management, and Guangxi Overseas Chinese Culture Research Center.

The seminar aimed to promote the development of China-Malaysia economic cooperation in a better and faster direction and strengthen the connections and exchanges between CMQIP and MCKIP (Twin Parks). The event saw more than 110 participants from various universities, research institutes, industry, and government agencies from both China and Malaysia.

In his welcome speech, UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat expressed his gratitude to all the organising parties from China and Malaysia for making the event successful. He said, “UTAR is honoured once again to be one of the organisers of the seminar and to contribute to this seminar to promote economic cooperation and development between Malaysia and China. The seminar has built a bridge between industry and academia, allowing experts, scholars and industries from both countries to conduct in-depth discussions and exchanges on related topics.”

“CMQIP and MCKIP are regarded as important projects under the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. It is also a new model of international production capacity cooperation under the ‘Two Countries, Twin Parks’ which is jointly initiated by the China and Malaysian governments, and a highly valued flagship project for cooperation. The development of the ‘Two Countries, Twin Parks’ has always required more exchanges and high-quality talents through industry-university-research cooperation, academic exchanges, training and other cooperation activities; it will strengthen industry-university cooperation and the connection between CMQIP and MCKIP, creating more development opportunities and a broader development platform for the talents of both countries, and promoting China-Malaysia economic cooperation to a better direction development. I hope that this significant seminar will continue as an annual event,” he emphasised. He also thanked CMQIP for receiving and taking care of 33 UTAR students during their internship at the beginning of the year.

As the host for the seminar, GXUN’s Vice President Prof Dr Huang Xiaojuan represented GXUN to welcome and thank the participants from the industry and academia from China and Malaysia. She then shared a brief introduction on GXUN’s history and development. She mentioned, “This year is the 46th anniversary of China-Malaysia diplomatic relations. China and Malaysia have always been friendly neighbours, and cooperation in various fields over the years has yielded fruitful results. The cooperation between China and Malaysia— CMQIP and MCKIP are world's first sister parks to build industrial parks in each other's country, which is also a pilot demonstration project of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative. Most importantly, we hope to provide a platform for participants to promote academic and knowledge exchanges related to the twin parks in order to contribute to the construction of ‘Two Countries, Twin Parks’. Therefore, I hope all participants will be enriched greatly from this seminar.”

There were seven keynote speeches in the seminar, conducted by experts and professionals from the industry and academia. From the industry were MCKIP’s representative Feng Guoli, who presented on the “Introduction of MCKIP and its latest development”; CMQIP Administrative Committee’s representative Gao Faying presented on “Create an upgraded version of the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" between China and Malaysia”, and CMQIP Group Holding Co. Ltd.’s representative presented on “Promoting the Construction of Regional Logistics Hubs for New Western Land-Sea Corridor”.

From the academia were UTAR Institute of Management and Leadership Development Director-cum-Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre Chairperson Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu who presented on the “Development, Opportunities and Challenges of ‘Two Countries, Twin Parks’ under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Framework” and Faculty of Business and Finance Dean Dr Au Yong Hui Nee who presented on the “Implementation of Strategic Competitiveness of the International Industrial Park”. GXUN academics Dr Ge Hongliang presented on “The New Mission of ‘Two Countries, Twin Parks’ for a New Era” and Dr Feng Guixia presented on “Research on the ‘Multi-Chain Integration’ Mechanism for the High-Quality Development of China-Malaysia Industrial Park”.

“Two Countries, Twin Parks” seminar was first held in 2018 at GXUN, China and the second seminar was held last year at UTAR Sungai Long Campus.