The Private University Act 2010 was passed by the Parliament on July 2010. The Act provides a provision for the setting up of cross border higher education (CBHE) institutues, such as foreign universities, in Bangladesh. Since then, the University Grant Commission (UGC) has been working on regulations governing CBHE institutes.

On Jan 31, 2011, the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh, H.E. Jamaluddin bin Sabeh and the Principal of Perdana College, Dr. Wong KH, made a courtesy call on the Honorable Education Minister, H.E. Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid, M.P., to enquire about the status of the CBHE regulations and to communicate the intention of UCSI University, Malaysia, to set up a branch university in Bangladesh."

H.E. Mr. Jamaluddin bin Sabeh discussed the possibility of academic collaboration between Malaysian and Bangladeshi universities. H.E. Nurul Islam Nahid, M.P., informed that the CBHE regulations are still under review and should be ready in a month or two.

Upon the recommendation of H.E. Nurul Islam Nahid, M.P., H.E. Jamaluddin bin Sabeh and Dr. Wong KH met up with the Chairman of University Grant Commission, Prof. Dr. Nazrul Islam, UGC Member Prof. Dr. Atful Hye Shibly, UGC Secretary Mr. Md. Khaled, and Assistant Director of Private University Division Ms. Jesmin Parvin to discuss the issue of CBHE regulations and institutions further.

Source: UGC BULLETIN (January-March 2011, Vol. 11, No. 1, Page 6)

The guests briefed the UGC team the status of CBHE in Malaysia. Malaysia envisions itself to be a regional hub of higher education and has been actively luring foreign universities to open up their campuses in Malaysia. As a result of such concerted efforts, seven world renowned foreign universities have opened their campuses in Malaysia and more are in the pipeline. This contributed toward capacity building and enhancement of education quality. Up to 100,000 foreign students are currently pursuing higher education in Malaysia.

Prof. Dr. Nazrul Islam stressed that Bangladesh welcomes foreign universities to open up branch campuses as that will stimulate education quality and attract foreign students.

Dr. Wong KH also briefed the UGC team the long term plan of the proposed UCSI University Bangladesh campus, touching on the programs, infrastructure development, and recruitment of faculty members. Prof. Dr. Nazrul Islam advised UCSI University to initiate applying for setting up a campus in Bangladesh.

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