Malaysia offers opportunity to Palestinians to pursue studies at UKKM

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will offer opportunities and scholarships to Palestinian students to continue their studies in the field of cooperatives at the Universiti Keusahawanan Koperasi Malaysia (UKKM)

Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said the matter was discussed at the Asia Pacific Cooperative Minister's Conference in Jordan last month.

"... we have also discussed with agencies in Jordan, and one of the collaborations that can be made is offering scholarships to at least three Palestinian students to pursue studies at the university.

"This is being followed up by discussions between our ambassador in Jordan and the Cooperatives Ministry in Palestine and it was also discussed at the ministry's post-Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (May 8).

"At this time, this is the form of cooperation we offer to Palestine and is being further discussed. But the Palestinian Cooperatives has expressed great interest in learning from Malaysia in developing the cooperative movement," he told reporters at the ministry’s Aidilfitri reception here on Thursday (May 9).

Commenting further, Ewon said the selection criteria for students are subject to the university's assessment, but it also needs to take into account the current developments in Palestine.

Earlier in his speech, he announced that the Northern Zone Madani Rakyat 2024 Programme, held from May 3 to 5 in Penang, recorded sales of over RM307,000 with a total attendance of 289,228 visitors.

At the event, Ewon also presented appointment letters to Cooperative Institute of Malaysia chairman Onn Abu Bakar, and National Institute of Entrepreneurship chairman Mustaffa Kamil Ayub. - Bernama