University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus welcomes a royal visitor

Staff and students welcomed His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, on a visit to the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

HRH Prince Andrew visited the 125-acre campus in his role as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.

The Duke of York met with staff and students to find out more about Nottingham’s pioneering internationalisation strategy and its links with one of Asia’s most dynamic emerging economies.

HRH Prince Andrew’s visit comes in a special year for the institution – 2010 is the tenth anniversary of the launch of the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC).

In 2000, Nottingham became the first British university to establish a campus overseas, building on a strong and longstanding relationship with Malaysia built up over many years.

Professor Christine Ennew, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation, said: “Nottingham is leading the way in international higher education, and has already been the recipient of a Queen’s Award for International Trade for ground-breaking work in this area. So we were delighted to be able to show His Royal Highness first-hand some of the exciting activities at UNMC.”

In his role as Special Representative – a position he has held since 2001 – HRH Prince Andrew works with the UK government, and with UK Trade and Investment in particular. His role involves promoting the UK as an attractive inward investment destination for foreign investors; creating more positive business conditions for British businesses investing overseas; and helping UK companies export their products to emerging and established markets.

Adding his congratulations on UNMC’s 10th anniversary to the many others that have been received was Jeremy Browne, Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who said: ‘I am delighted that one of my first acts as newly appointed Minster of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to congratulate Nottingham University on the 10th anniversary of their presence in Malaysia.  As an alumnus of Nottingham University it gives me great pleasure to see this prestigious institution helping to forge ever closer ties between our two nations.’

UNMC, near the capital Kuala Lumpur, is home to 3,600 students from more than 70 nations. All students study in English, for University of Nottingham degrees that are taught and assessed in the same way as those in Nottingham UK.

The parkland campus in Semenyih takes its design cues from University Park, Nottingham – with a signature lakeside building which echoes the Trent Building from Nottingham UK. The University’s campus in Ningbo, China, also features a flagship building that draws on the same architectural inspiration.

This summer, UNMC will be the setting for a unique event in higher education: the Tri-Campus Games 2010. The Games will see 60 student athletes from each of Nottingham’s three national campuses – in the UK, Malaysia and China – come together for a week-long celebration of sporting excellence on the Semenyih campus.

The second annual Tri-Campus Games will feature a mixture of sports including basketball, football, tennis, squash, table tennis and volleyball from June 6th–12th.