Unitar on right track to fulfil goals, says PM

2009/10/10

KUALA LUMPUR: The re-engineering of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (Unitar) is putting it on the right track to fulfil the nation's needs.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the university's board of trustees wanted the higher learning institution to work with the best minds in different fields, including the areas of entrepreneurship and government.

He said this had resulted in collaborations with several top universities around the world such as the Babson College of the United States; Toulouse Business School (France); University of Melbourne (Australia) and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University (USA).

Najib, who is also chairman of Unitar's board of trustees, said there was a need to look at ways to speed up the nation's transformation.

"We know where the nation is heading from industrialisation to knowledge-based economy and ultimately to innovation-based economy," he said at the launching of Unitar's Razak campus here yesterday. At the same time, he said the board of trustees also saw the need for Unitar to be a leading boutique university.

"We have decided that the university should stress on small groups of students that reflects high quality. There is no intention (for Unitar) to be a mass university," he added.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak signing a plaque to commemorate the launching of Unitar’s Razak campus yesterday. With the prime minister is the university’s Chancellor Tun Rahah Mohd Noah (second from right), Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Prof Tan Sri Dr Syed Jalaludin Syed Salim (left).

The prime minister hoped that the re-engineering process of Unitar would help the university to achieve the highest standard in quality.

"The university has to be the best or second to none," he said, and jokingly added that he would be "extremely disappointed" if Unitar failed to do so.

Earlier, Najib witnessed the exchange of documents related to new collaborative agreements between Unitar and its new business partners, namely UEM Group Berhad, Kumpulan Karangkraf Sdn Bhd and Amanah Raya Berhad.