Raffles Education to set up uni in Iskandar Malaysia

25 February 2010 , By Business Times Singapore

RAFFLES Education Corporation (REC) is looking to extend its ties with Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional with a possible collaboration on a multi-institutional education campus in Iskandar Malaysia.

The school operator said yesterday that it is looking to work with a Khazanah subsidiary, Education@Iskandar, to set up a campus - to be known as Raffles University Iskandar - through a joint venture. It did not provide an investment figure for the proposed joint venture.

Once the parties complete the studies and secure the necessary regulatory approval, they will first set up Raffles University there. The proposed university on a 26 hectare site will offer specialisation programmes ranging from business to technology to social science. The school is aiming to enrol about 5,000 students in its first five years.

Iskandar Malaysia is an economic corridor in the south of Johor launched in 2006. Set up to spur growth in the state, the development zone - three times the size of Singapore - will boast upmarket housing as well as theme parks when completed.

By last May, Iskandar Malaysia had attracted RM2.64 billion (S$1.1 billion) from Singapore's private sector.

This latest move by REC follows a 300 million yuan (S$61.8 million) investment by Khazanah Nasional earlier this month for a 10 per cent stake in REC's China unit Oriental University City (OUC).

REC shares gained half a cent or 1.27 per cent to end at 40 cents yesterday.