Assoc. Prof. Nasrudin Akhir and Dr Azmi Mat, Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Institute Kuala Lumpur, University of Malaya.
Different opportunities for collaboration between the two institutions were discussed during the meeting with Sofia University Rector, Prof Ivan Ilchev, such as student and lecturer exchange, as well as joint research. This was the first step towards signing a Memorandum of Cooperation between Asia-Europe Institute Kuala Lumpur, University of Malaya and Sofia University.
The Asia-Europe Institute has successfully established itself as one of Southeast Asia’s leading institutions for social science postgraduate research and teaching. In 1997, the Government of Malaysia established the Asia-Europe Centre, the first step of Asia-Europe University cooperation in education designed to support the Fourth Pillar of the ASEM process (The Asia–Europe Meeting, 1996). Three years after its inception, on January 2nd 2000, the the Asia-Europe Centre was transformed into a full-fledged academic institution. It was renamed Asia-Europe Institute and hosted by the University of Malaya, the oldest university in Malaysia.