On the sidelines of the ASEAN Roundtable of Ministers of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Dato’ Seri Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir, Malaysia’s Minister of Higher Education, to explore avenues for enhancing cooperation in higher education, scientific research, and emerging technologies.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to designate ICESCO as a strategic partner in organizing the international Putrajaya Festival of Ideas (PFOI) in Putrajaya, set to take place in November 2025, with broad participation from universities, research centers, and innovators from around the world.

Dr. AlMalik highlighted ICESCO’s key initiatives in supporting university education and stressed the importance of keeping pace with global shifts in digitization, the knowledge economy, blended learning, and space sciences, while positioning innovation as a cornerstone of future universities.

Moreover, Dr. AlMalik affirmed that ICESCO aims to build high-impact partnerships that help prepare students, empower universities, and stimulate scientific research in response to rapid global developments and evolving labor market demands.

The Malaysian Minister of Higher Education welcomed expanded cooperation with ICESCO and affirmed Malaysia’s commitment to nurturing a generation capable of leading and innovating within a dynamic knowledge-based environment.

The two parties agreed to launch joint academic and training programmes, organize scientific forums on artificial intelligence, higher education, and space sciences, and to promote the inclusion of Malaysian universities in the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), which operates under ICESCO’s auspices.

Dr. AlMalik also extended an official invitation to the Malaysian Minister to visit ICESCO headquarters in Rabat to explore its programmes and cooperation opportunities. Additionally, he invited him to participate in the Higher Education Conference on Artificial Intelligence, co-organized by ICESCO and Egypt’s Ministry of Higher Education at the end of September 2025, under the theme “Knowledge Economy and the Centrality of Higher Education.”

The meeting was attended by Dr. Majdi Haji Ibrahim from ICESCO, and from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, Dr. Anesee bin Ibrahim, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Higher Education, and Dr. Azlinda Azman, Director-General of Higher Education.