GEORGE TOWN, Dec 7 — The Higher Education Ministry is confident that all public universities in the country are capable of generating their own income through research activity, consultancy and inter-industry collaboration.
However, Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said in order to be a world-class institution, public universities should not be too dependent on the government.
“We cannot go global by being too dependent on the government...it won’t work, it’s a mismatch. After all, generating own income is not an unthinkable matter, it is in line with the development within the industry and within the university.
“I can see that public universities are willing to cope up with that. I see it in the collaborative efforts between university and industry which is on the rise from time to time,” he told a press conference after opening the new building of Toray-USM Knowledge Transfer Centre here today.
Also present were USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Omar Osman, Japan Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Makio Miyagawa and Toray Industries president Datuk Akihiro Nikkaku.
Idris said universities should be smart in finding and grabbing all available opportunities and increase their collaboration with the industry, as it would not only lead to generating financial income, but also to creating job opportunities for their graduates.
Earlier in his speech, Idris said the establishment of the Toray-USM Knowledge Transfer Centre proved that the collaboration between USM and the Japanese company had indeed went beyond the normal forms of cooperation, which usually focused on research and training.
“The ministry would like to thank Toray Group (Malaysia) of Companies for their kindness in donating RM4 million on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. The donation has supported USM in realising its vision of building the centre and today, here it stands, making all of us proud,” he added. — Bernama
