The University of Tsukuba could be the first Japanese university to set up a branch in Malaysia, and the first Japanese campus anywhere overseas, after talks kicked off at the end of 2018 following a request from Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and supported by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

According to Malaysia’s Education Minister Maszlee Malik, the registration of these private higher education institutions is expected to be implemented in 2020.

The Malaysian leader believes Japanese institutions could promote the kind of Japanese work values in Malaysia that led to Japan’s own dramatic post-Second World War recovery. He is specifically advocating for high-tech exchanges with Japan.

Tsukuba is one of the country’s oldest universities, has produced several Nobel laureates, and is known for its science and technology development and innovation studies – a large proportion of the country’s public research and development budget is spent at the university.

Malaysia, for its part, wants to attract universities from more countries in Asia to set up branch campuses, including Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. It already hosts a branch campus of China’s Xiamen University as well as a number of Australian and Western universities.

Malaysia’s Education Minister Maszlee Malik suggested that not just Tsukuba but others might be interested in setting up a branch campus, mentioning Nippon Designers School. The Japanese government has signalled a change in policy in supporting overseas branches. In the past Japan has funded joint university projects in Vietnam and Egypt but has not allowed a branch campus of a Japanese-accredited public institution to open up abroad.