21 -April -2008
sourced from properties.emedia.com.my
Don’t be too surprised if in
the near future, you find the country’s top
brains coming from within the RM1.9 billion
Bandar Enstek township near the KL International
Airport. For taking shape there is Kuala Lumpur
Education City (KLEC), a futuristic smart hub
being developed by TH Properties Sdn Bhd and
KLEC Ventures Sdn Bhd
Among the engines that will be churning out
these brains will be Royal Holloway, a constituent
college of the University of London that will
be the institution’s first campus in Asia.
KVSB group managing director Khalil Anwar Kamal
said following a Memorandum of Understanding
signed in January this year to make Royal Holloway
an anchor tenant of KLEC, negotiations are underway
for the construction of a campus and boarding
facilities on a site that could be 42 acres
or more within the KLEC University Park.
The eventual size of the Royal Holloway campus,
said Khalil, will be finalised once the university
has determined its requirements and its academic
portfolio.
Currently, KLEC has been allocated 500 acres
within Bandar Enstek, but this could be doubled
if response from academic institutions both
locally and abroad is strong.
Khalil said other than Royal Holloway, KVSB
is also working to attract the Middlesex University
of England.
Among the draw factors of the education hub,
he said, is its unique shared services concept
that will enable institutions to lower set-up
and operating costs as they will not have to
provide their own education facilities such
as classrooms, laboratories, libraries and theatres.
Instead, KVSB will build them as common areas,
and charge the institutions a lease agreement
and a service fee based on student usage.
Other draws to the development include its
“well-defined academic and development masterplan”
and its location in Bandar Enstek which is easily
accessible to foreign students and lecturers
as the KLIA is less than 10 minutes away.
“For foreign universities, being in KLEC puts
them in a good position to serve the expanding
Southeast Asian market and attract students
from Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines,”
Khalil said.
“They also have the potential to lure students
from the Middle East, China and India.”
