Malaysia inks pact with MIT

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is set to become the knowledge capital for logistics and supply chain management in Asia following a landmark partnership agreement with the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The partnership a joint initiative by the Higher Education Ministry, MIT and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) will result in the formation of the Malaysian Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (Misi) in Shah Alam.

Dedicated to postgraduate supply chain education and research, Misi will serve as MIT's Asian hub in the university's international network of centres, which is known as the Global SCALE (Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence) Network.

The other centres in the network are the MIT Centre for Transportation and Logistics (MIT CTL), the Zaragoza Logistics Centre in Spain and the Centre for Latin American Logistics Innovation in Colombia.

MIT CTL director Yossi Sheffi said that Misi could be the penultimate centre in the network as a final centre in Africa would allow MIT to cover each continent.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who commended the three parties for their efforts, which supported the nation's aspirations to strengthen higher education and to be a regional education hub.

“With Misi's establishment, I believe that research and development in logistics and supply chain industry will propel and accelerate other industries for the benefit of the nation,” said Najib after the ceremony at his office yesterday.

Also present was Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who said that it was heartening that MIT chose Malaysia to host its third overseas centre.

“The partnership is significant because China and Singapore expressed interest in hosting the centre,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled added that the ministry had selected UiTM to be MIT's partner as the local university had a long history of offering transport and logistics programmes up to postgraduate level.