USM PENANG, 24 April 2022 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will develop a 22.7 acre area out of the 183.89 acre of land in its University Recreational Park (TRU) with new infrastructure, including a ‘Desasiswa’.

At the moment, USM has extended a Request for Proposal (RFP) to companies having the required competency, expertise and credentials to develop the above-mentioned area.

According to USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr. Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan, the effort to realise and develop TRU will be beneficial to USM in becoming a socio-economic centre for the surrounding community.

He said this at a gathering with the USM community recently, attended physically by close to 700 people and with 7,000 more attending online.

He added that, USM needs to optimise the growth potential of its assets, as part of the move to offer better services as an APEX university, while ensuring its financial sustainability can be maintained.

This will be in line with the aspiration to achieve "Global Prominence, National Excellence", with USM actively pushing towards becoming an education hub for local and international students alike.

The number of students who registered for postgraduate studies at USM was 2,458 in December 2021, the highest in number among other public universities.

"Therefore, development efforts at USM need to be in tandem with the aspiration," he emphasised.

Among the infrastructure planned to be developed are accommodations for students and staff, commercial facilities and an International School.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Text: Mohamad Abdullah (Office of the Vice-Chancellor, USM)