(The Guardian, UK) - In response to the costs of sending
students abroad, the Malay government developed a strategy to
improve its HE sector, transforming it into regional hub for
international universities While restructuring its educational
policies in the 1990s, the Malaysian government realised it
would not be able to provide higher education to a significant
proportion of its population through its own public
institutions. In 1995, the Malaysian government was faced with a
situation where 20% of Malaysian students studied abroad. This
cost the country an estimated $800 million USD, nearly 12% of
Malaysia's current account deficit. Malaysia became one of the
top countries sending its own students to study abroad. Faced
with such a predicament the Malaysian government embarked on a
program to turn Malaysia into a fully developed knowledge based
economy. To that end, the Malaysian government sought to partner
with foreign higher educational institutions to offer more
educational opportunities for Malaysians