JEDDAH, 3 May 2007 — An increasing number of Saudi students are going to Malaysia for higher studies. “As many as 172 Saudi students are already pursuing studies in Malaysia and 300 more will be joining them in due course,” Malaysian Minister of Higher Education Mustapa Mohamed told a press conference here yesterday.

This is in pursuance of the Kingdom’s plan to look eastward, especially to Malaysia, in addition to China, India, Singapore and South Korea. He referred to a scholarship scheme of Malaysia’s AlBukhary Foundation, which will provide 1,000 scholarships over four years according to the terms of a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority. Underprivileged students in the Jizan region especially will get a chance to study in Malaysia under the scheme.

Mustapa said that his ministry had set up an international students division to cope with the increasing number of foreign students pursuing higher education in Malaysia and turning the country into a center of educational excellence.

The division which will be operational from the middle of this year will facilitate the entrance and management of foreign students who are expected to number 100,000 by 2010, he said. Malaysia boasts 20 public and 35 private universities.

Until 2005, about 45,000 foreign students mostly from Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Yemen were pursuing degree and post-graduate courses at 206 institutions of higher learning in the country. At present 50,000 overseas students are studying in Malaysia and 60,000 Malaysian students are pursuing higher studies at overseas destinations, the minister said.

Mustapa said his ministry had set up a council tasked with formulating a program to promote local institutions of higher learning abroad. “It is hoped that the setting up of the council will help realize the government’s expectation of drawing more than 100,000 foreign students by 2010,” he said.

With rising population rates, more than 50 percent of inhabitants categorized as “young,” rising labor market expectations and a booming economy, the Saudi government has recently increased funding for overseas study and announced that foreign providers will receive authorization to set up campuses in the Kingdom.

A significant proportion of Saudi students currently study abroad, with the US, UK and Canada accounting for about half of overseas enrollments but recent developments could signal a growing diversification of study abroad destinations.

Saudi students have been studying abroad with state encouragement for over a decade. The Saudi Ministry of Higher Education has actively built relationships with overseas universities, particularly those in the United States, in recent years and provides scholarships to about half of Saudi overseas students to cover the costs of their foreign degree programs.

As many as 25,000 Saudi students are being invited over a five-year period to apply for the scholarship program. Saudi officials have already indicated that the program is being established in part to develop and improve international relations with targeted countries, as well as to increase the pool of highly educated Saudis available for employment and address identified key labor market gaps.

Cost might be another factor influencing the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education when strategically selecting study destinations abroad for Saudi students. The cost of obtaining a higher education in traditional study destinations such as the United States and the UK is high compared to that charged in Malaysia and other Asian countries.