KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 3 (Bernama-PRNewswire) -- Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) is embarking on a massive rebranding exercise to position itself as a premier agency that promotes Malaysia as a leading education destination.
From Visa Processing to Digital Transformation
Despite having a wider mandate, EMGS only developed an elementary reputation as a visa processing company instead of registering a strong brand like the British Council and IDP Australia. Past focus on education exhibitions has had limited impact as participation by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) had been less than 5%.
Malaysia eventually lost its leading position as an education hub, dropping from being in the top 10 to 12th today. The number of foreign student applications decreased by -39% over the past 4 years, from 71,000 new applicants to around 41,000 in 2018. In Asia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan had gained at Malaysia's expense.
Since late 2018, the Ministry of Education infused EMGS with new talents from both the public and private sectors. Under the new stewardship, EMGS is proudly leading a transformation in the internationalisation of Malaysia's higher education, focusing more on digital marketing, branding and expanding networks.
A New Business Model
EMGS is shifting towards evidence-based policy-making that will be more inclusive to all stakeholders and focus more on collaboration, effectiveness, quality and long-term partnerships, in line with the Minister of Education's vision.
- Rebranding Malaysia as a leading education destination.
- Adopting a more diverse marketing strategy with active participation of Malaysia's HEIs, focusing more on harnessing the sustainability dynamics. Emerging markets like Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and the Middle East and North Africa region will be approached with a refreshed perspective.
- Unveiling a new digital marketing plan by Q2 2019 which will be more targeted to complement our physical presence abroad, including participation at impactful education exhibitions.
- Strengthening collaboration with education agents and other third parties. Agents still account for around 50% of intakes from emerging markets.
- In increasing transparency and accountability, EMGS is currently reviewing and renegotiating past agreements to reduce costs, increase returns and deliver better value to all relevant stakeholders.
Today's Solution for Tomorrow
To capture opportunities presented by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), EMGS will focus on introducing new technologies and innovation including the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
EMGS' digital marketing plan will deliver fresh contents, accelerate information consumption and increase engagement with active participation of our HEI partners.
EMGS also looks forward to offering MUET to international students abroad, not only as a competitive education product, but also as a mean to facilitating the enrolment process.
With over 200 institutions offering quality education, EMGS is indeed a 'university of diversity' in this journey, aiming to deliver a future-proof education not only to Malaysians but also all citizens of the world.
Moving forward, EMGS will also seek to rebrand itself as a leading premier education service provider under the brand 'Education Malaysia'.
About Education Malaysia Global Services
Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) is a non-profit company, limited by guarantee, wholly owned by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Malaysia. EMGS acts as a One Stop Centre for international student services. EMGS is responsible for the management and processing of applications for a Student Pass to higher education institutions in Malaysia. EMGS also leads the worldwide promotion of education in Malaysia. At present, higher education institutions in Malaysia hosts over 132,000 international students from more than 120 countries.
CONTACT: Azmi Ahmad Fathil, Education Malaysia Global Services, Tel: +603 21 800 800, Mobile: +6011 3596 3789, Email: azmi.nik@educationmalaysia.gov.my
Source: Education Malaysia Global Services
--BERNAMA
