A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was officially sealed on 22 October 2022 at the headquarter of The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) to establish collaboration between UTAR and ACCCIM.

The MoU was signed by UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat and ACCCIM President Tan Sri Dato’ Low Kian Chuan.

In his remarks, Tan Sri Low stated that ACCCIM will be collaborating with UTAR to achieve eight objectives. 1) To jointly develop and design the programme outline of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC); 2) make good use of UTAR Inspire@Learning platform to record training courses for ACCCIM; 3) encourage ACCCIM associate businesses to participate in UTAR short-term courses or micro-credential programmes; 4) establish joint talent training programme; 5) promote academic development and exchanges between two parties; 6) initiate internship programme; 7) jointly supervise master’s and doctoral programmes, and 8) promote community participation to enable more contributions to the society.

He added, “Although ACCCIM is a chamber of commerce, it has always encouraged collaboration between industry and academia. Since April this year, ACCCIM has initiated a series of school-industry collaboration forums. We invited professors from various universities to share their professional knowledge, establishing platform to allow exchanges between higher education institutions and industry. The industry players will understand the services provided by higher education institutions. Likewise, the higher education institutions will also listen to the needs of industry players, thus achieving ground for mutual benefits.”

Welcoming the opportunity to improve both the academic and industrial sectors, Prof Dato’ Ewe enthused, “I believe that a good and productive collaboration depends on both parties’ cooperation. The industry helps us to improve our programme syllabi, cultivate competent graduates who meet market needs, train academic staff and provide support towards research projects. We hope to do our utmost too as a higher education institution, by providing industrial organisations with self-improvement and training programmes for staff, promoting knowledge and resource sharing, and providing professional consultation services.”

He also said, “MOOC is one of the most popular, flexible and wide-ranging learning modes today. We will jointly develop MOOC with ACCCIM through this MoU. The ACCCIM training courses will be uploaded to UTAR Inspire@Learning online platform. I believe this is a blessing to our students as well as industry players who seek opportunities for self-enrichment through MOOC.”

Also present at the signing ceremony were ACCCIM Deputy President Datuk Ng Yih Pyng, Secretary General Dato’ Tan Tian Meng, Deputy Treasurer Yap Heng Or, UTAR Vice President for Internalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Goi Bok Min, Centre for Power Systems and Electricity Chairperson Ir Prof Dr Lim Yun Seng, Division of Community and International Networking Director Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn, Centre for Extension Education Director Assoc Prof Ir Dr Lim Jee Hock and Centre for Corporate and Community Development Director Lim Guat Yen.

UTAR has entered official partnerships with more than 540 education institutions and industrial organisations from Europe, America and Asia, allowing the facilitation of knowledge sharing, research data exchanges and various collaborations between stakeholders.