A delegation from Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University has begun discussions with colleagues from the University of Malaya in the Malaysian capital on the roadmap for the events of the first session of the Raw Materials Dialogue. It will be held in Kuala Lumpur in the autumn of 2025.
The idea of creating a continuously functioning communication platform for scientists, industrialists, and government representatives of the two countries to address issues related to the mineral resource complex was proposed by the Rector of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Vladimir Litvinenko, at the third meeting of the Joint Russian-Malaysian Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation.
The development and adjustment of the program will continue for several days. However, it is already clear that the first session of the Raw Materials Dialogue will begin with a youth section. The proposal by Professor Ivonne Lim Ai Lian from the University of Malaya to include presentations of research projects by postgraduate students from Russian and Malaysian universities was supported by the Russian side.
«The Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University is ready to bring 30-40 of its postgraduate students with their scientific projects on a wide range of topics, extending beyond the oil and gas sector, to Malaysia in the fall. There may also be participation from young scientists from other universities of the Consortium of Universities of the Mineral Resource Complex 'Nedra' from the Russian side» - said the head of the delegation from the Mining University, Director of the Association of Mining Engineers of Russia Vyacheslav Zyrin.
The Mining Chamber of Malaysia has shown interest in the Resource Dialogue. The St. Petersburg team met with representatives of this influential professional association. Its authority among the resource companies in Malaysia is expected to help in the practical implementation of the results of joint scientific projects.
During the meeting with the rector of the partner university, Mr. Nur Azuan Bin Abu Osman, issues of protocol and the participation of VIPs in the session were discussed.
During the visit to the Russian embassy, its head, Nail Latypov, confirmed that the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education is not only interested but clearly ready to work on the Dialogue. However, the main week's schedule of meetings and discussions for the group is still ahead.
The introduction to the most promising components of the resource base of the two countries took place during the first joint online seminar of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University and the University of Malaya on April 16-17. Such meetings will be held regularly.
Reference: The partner university for the Russian-Malaysian Resource Forum, the University of Malaya (UM), is the leading university in Malaysia, ranked 60th in the QS World University Rankings 2025. In addition, it is in the Top 100 in 20 subjects and in the Top 50 in four subjects according to the QS World University Rankings.
More than 20,000 undergraduates and 18,000 graduate students are enrolled in 250 educational programs. The most popular fields include medicine, economics and accounting, and law.
The University of Malaya, as a state university, has a quota for admitting international students – 15% of the total number of applicants, which is primarily filled by students from China. UM students who go abroad for their studies predominantly travel to Indonesia.
The university has partnerships with 710 scientific and educational organizations from 65 countries.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that staff from Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University have visited Kuala Lumpur. In 2024, the delegation from the International Centre of Competence in Mining Education under the auspices of UNESCO participated in the International Symposium of UNESCO Category 2 Centres held in the Malaysian capital. The symposium focused on joint programs among international organization participants in the field of natural sciences.
