ALOR STAR: Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Sanusi Mohd Nor today shared his vision for "Cordoba of Kedah" (CoK) with university students in the state.
He said his administration has placed the vision as a priority by focusing on developing academic institutions in the state.
"We were inspired by the events that unfolded in the past involving the civilisation of Cordoba in Spain, where the city was the heart of knowledge and modern civilisation that was established by Muslims but was later taken over by western civilisation.
"We want Kedah to experience a similar impact to the one Cordoba had on the development of human civilisation, and at the heart of this will be Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah (UniSHAMS), which will branch out its network to all academic institutions in Kedah.
"This responsibility is now put under the hands of state Religious, Education and Human Resources Committee chairman Datuk Najmi Ahmad," he said during a Town Hall session with university students at Dewan Seri Mentaloon here.
Sanusi said primary and secondary schools would act as feeder institutions to institutions of higher learning, which would all work within a "conceptual framework" touted as the "Cordoba of Kedah".
"This process will take time, but this is to be expected as even Cordoba took hundreds of years to reach such heights.
"For now, this project is still in the conceptual phase, but one day Kedah will emerge as the 'Cordoba of the East'," he added.
Sanusi said the state government was developing key projects to create employment opportunities for Kedah's younger generation such as Kedah Rubber City, Kulim Aerotropolis, and Kedah Science and Technological Park in Jitra.
"I view students as precious human capital and we will have 150,000 job opportunities that need to be filled by the people of Kedah to further develop the state.
"We envisioned the Kulim Aerotropolis project as an effort to make Kulim the cargo hub of Asean countries which we estimate will generate 23,000 jobs when this project becomes a reality in 2026," he said.
Sanusi said his administration's core motivation behind the project was to provide a brighter future for the youths.
"We will not be here for long (but) we will be leaving a legacy for the next generation. That is our administration's motivation, to do as much as possible for the youth.
"I will work hard while we are still alive and will only rest in the hereafter," he added.