PENANG, April 2015 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Innovation and Productivity in Public Administration (PiPPA) recently received a study visit from the delegation of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan at PiPPA seminar room here.

The Kyrgyzstan delegation comprised of 11 senior government officials headed by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Zuura Baiamanova.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman said that he was very pleased with their visit to establish future collaboration opportunities with USM.

"I hope that through this visit, the relationship between USM and the Republic of Kyrgyzstan can be strengthened through the sharing of experience and collaboration, particularly in the aspects of finance and public administration, in the future," said Omar.

Similarly, Baiamanova Zuura hoped that this visit would allow her delegation to understand better how administration and management is carried out in USM as an APEX university, and to emulate the best practices in her country.

Earlier, the Director of PIPPA, Dr. Musa Haji Ali gave a brief introduction of PIPPA and presented the USM administrative system and programmes implemented by PIPPA to the Kyrgyzstan delegation.

“This is part of PIPPA’s effort to establish strategic collaboration with its partners worldwide, especially in offering quality training programmes related to public administration,” added Musa.

Also present were the PIPPA Deputy Director (Research and Internationalisation), Associate Professor Dr. Mohd. Rodzi Ismail; officials from the University of Malaya Malaysian Centre for Regulatory Studies (UMCoRS); and USM officials. - Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe/Text: Siti Naquiah Binti Abdillah/Photos: Mohd Fairus Md. Isa