PENANG, 19 May 2015 - The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman recently welcomed the delegation of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in a courtesy call at the Bilik Persidangan Canselori USM.

Omar said, he was truly honoured in welcoming the delegates from the Saudi Arabian Embassy to establish collaborative opportunities and discuss various issues pertaining to Saudi students pursuing their education at USM.

"My expectation from this visit would be the strengthening of relations between these two countries and for more cooperative research efforts to be initiated in the future," said Omar in his speech at the meeting and dialogue session held for both parties.

The Saudi delegation was headed by the Saudi Cultural Mission Academic Advisor, Yassin Madani Abdul Alkadir and Deputy Academic Advisor, Dr Hashem Hussein Al Attas.

In his reply speech, Yasin Madani hoped that with this visit and the established cooperation, both sides can share and promote relations with the Saudi students in USM in various research areas.

"We identify USM as an accomplished research university in Malaysia. We hope that USM could provide the Saudi students who are studying at USM with the opportunities for research work, which would be impactful upon the completion of their studies later," he said.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) USM, Professor Dato' Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustafa Kamal was also present at the dialogue session.

According to Ahmad Shukri, the welfare of students from Saudi Arabia who are studying at USM was also discussed, matters of which include the standards of accommodation, the study environment and the flow of their learning process until they finish their studies.

"At USM, the Academic and International Affairs Office continuously monitors international students who have problems as well as giving them the utmost assistance to make them feel comfortable studying in USM and to be able to complete their studies with flying colours," added Ahmad Shukri.

Currently USM has approximately 60 students from Saudi Arabia undergoing their undergraduate and postgraduate studies in various courses.

Others who attended the discussion with the Saudi delegates include the Deans from various Schools and key officials of the university. – Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Text: Syuhada Abdul Aziz