UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong was invited to present a keynote address at the ASEAN-China (Henan) Vocational Educational Exchange Conference 2024 (中国（河南）—东盟职业教育交流会) in Zhengzhou, China on 9 April 2024.

Themed ‘Building a New Platform for Industry-Educational Integration and Co-creating a New Future of International Vocational Education (搭建产教融合新载体 共创职教出海新未来)’, the conference was jointly organised by Zhengzhou Municipal People’s Government, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Henan Provincial People’s Government, Henan Provincial Department of Education, along with Zhengzhou People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Alibaba (China) Education Technology Co., Ltd., China Digital Intelligence Silk Road E-commerce Industry-Education Integration Community, China Digital Port Economic Industry-Education Integration Community and Beijing Tangfeng International Education Group. The conference was hosted by Zhengzhou Vocational and Technical College.

Titled Industry-Academia Collaboration at UTAR: Strategies, Experiences and Case Studies, Prof Choong took UTAR’s industry-academia collaboration as an example to provide a deeper understanding to the audience about the industry-academia collaboration in Malaysia. He explained, “UTAR’s industry-academia collaboration has been divided into (i) R&D and consultation; (ii) talent training; (iii) human capital development and (iv) curriculum development.” He then shared a few examples of the integration of industry and academia in UTAR.

He added, “We are also working closely with companies from China. One of the projects we are involved in includes the Alibaba Global E-commerce Talent (GET) programme. We have 30 lecturers who have passed the GET training test and become the first batch of Alibaba.com Global E-commerce Talent (GET) certified trainers in Malaysia. In addition, we have more than 1,756 students who have been awarded the Alibaba.com GET Preliminary Certification. Apart from this, we have also built strong partnerships with Huawei, China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and many other companies from China to cultivate graduates who have an international perspective as well as can keep pace with the time.”

Furthermore, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony took place with Zhengzhou Vocational and Technical College and Zhengzhou University of Technology during the conference. The signatories were Prof Choong, Zhengzhou Vocational and Technical College Vice President Assoc Prof Dr Wang Shaohua and Zhengzhou University of Technology Vice President Prof Yang Qingnian.

During the visit to China, Prof Choong also met with the leaders and representatives of Zhengzhou University of Technology and Xinxiang Institute of Engineering to build rapport, promote mutual understanding and discuss opportunities for future collaboration. Accompanying Prof Choong during the visit was Office of International Affairs (OIA) Director Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn.