THE Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) yesterday signed a deal to establish a 30-acre campus in Iskandar Malaysia. Its RM300 million (S$128 million) investment is the first major one by a Singaporean group in the special economic zone.

The decision to set up a private university college in the area called EduCity@Iskandar is also significant in that it comes on the heels of closer bilateral relations between the two countries.

MDIS's commitment took 18 months of 'rigorous efforts', its secretary-general R Theyvendran said, with the final impetus provided by last month's momentous agreement between the leaders of both countries to resolve a number of long-standing issues, including the land in Singapore that is held by Malaysia's KTM.

Even so, the not-for-profit professional institute sees the 'great potential' which the market for education in Malaysia represents, given the estimated 800,000 students enrolled in higher education across the country. Moreover, Malaysia is host to some 50,000 international students.

MDIS signed an agreement yesterday with Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur which was witnessed by Malaysia's Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

Its campus could well be the largest in EduCity, and MDIS's commitment will provide a timely boost to Iskandar Malaysia as well as aid its aspirations to become a regional education hub.

It is the third institute to commit to EduCity after Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia and the Netherlands' Maritime Institute of Technology, which are scheduled to open in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Marlborough College Malaysia will open its doors near EduCity in 2012. Another Singapore group, Raffles Education Corporation, is currently conducting a feasibility study before it makes a decision.

Education@Iskandar chairman Arlida Ariff described the MDIS deal as a 'landmark agreement which reflects the immense potential for synergy between Singapore and Malaysia'.

Although Singapore investors are among the southern state's biggest, their investments are mainly in small and medium-sized industries, mostly manufacturing.

Ms Arlida, who is also the chief executive of Iskandar Investment, the master planner for the economic zone, said eight campuses were planned for EduCity and that negotiations are currently underway with an engineering institute. Dedicated campuses for dental, infocomm technology and multimedia institutes are also in the works.

As with its Singapore campus, MDIS - which currently has 13,000 students from 70 countries at its six-acre site - expects locals to comprise 70-75 per cent of the student population.

Dr Theyvendran said the RM300 million investment includes the land and building costs. Construction is to commence next year and the first phase of the 'eco and disabled-friendly' campus is expected to be completed by 2013. Initially, it would have the capacity to accommodate 2,000 students, rising to 5,000 in the second phase in 2018 and to 10,000 after the completion of the third and final phase in 2023.

Students from its three campuses - MDIS has another 10-acre campus in Tashkent, Uzbekistan - would be allowed twinning options to enable them to obtain 'a transnational education'.

The Malaysian campus would be funded by MDIS's cash reserves and operated under a Malaysia-incorporated private limited company to be wholly owned by MDIS International Pte Ltd. But a local partner could be invited to value add, Dr Theyvendran said.

Initial courses to be offered are business management, mass communication, information technology and digital media, and travel & tourism.