Western Australia Investment and Trade Commissioner visits Curtin Malaysia

Miri – 16 February 2023 – Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently hosted the Investment and Trade Commissioner for the Government of Western Australia to ASEAN, Krista Dunstan, on her first familiarisation visit to Curtin University’s largest global campus and hub in ASEAN. Currently based in Singapore, Dunstan is Western Australia’s government representative for the 10 ASEAN countries. She and her team work to attract investment into and increase trade with Western Australia within the ASEAN region with staffed offices in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Joining Curtin Malaysia Pro Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive Professor Simon Leunig to welcome Dunstan to the campus were Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Vincent Lee, Acting Chief Operating Officer Associate Professor Ir. Pieter Pottas, and Dean of Research and Development Professor Ramasamy Nagarajan.

Representing the Faculty of Business, Faculty of Engineering and Science and Faculty of Humanities and Health Sciences respectively were Faculty Dean Professor Andreas Zins, Associate Dean of Research and Development Associate Professor John Lau and Media and Communication Program Coordinator Dr. Ngu Ik Ying, while Director Associate Professor Fidella Tiew represented the School of Pre-U and Continuing Education.

In their meeting with Dunstan, they shared and exchanged ideas regarding research, student development, course offerings, education pathways, scholarships and industry engagement. They also discussed opportunities for collaboration between the Government of Western Australia Office and Curtin Malaysia in  the near future.

Prof. Leunig highlighted Curtin Malaysia’s 24-year existence and its upcoming silver anniversary in 2024, its global rankings, as well as its ownership by the Sarawak Government through the Sarawak Foundation and its remit to serve Sarawak’s socio-economic needs.

Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Ir. Pottas, who is also director of Curtin Biovalley Sdn. Bhd., the Curtin Malaysia subsidiary that manages and operates the Sarawak government-owned Sarawak Biovalley Pilot Plant at the campus, briefed the commissioner on the biotechnological research being carried out at the facility.  Assoc. Prof. Ir. Pottas also highlighted Curtin Malaysia’s new aquaculture teaching and research centre currently under construction and the soon-to-commence Digital Centre of Excellence, both which will significantly enhance its industry-aligned education and research. Dunstan said she was pleased to know what Curtin Malaysia is doing in international education and giving students opportunities to reach their full potential and would help to make stakeholders in the Western Australia government and in the region aware of these opportunities.  Dunstan’s visit ended with a tour of Curtin Malaysia’s library, distributed and collaborative learning spaces and the Sarawak Biovalley Pilot Plant, as well as the Curtin Global Admissions Office based in Miri, which processes student applications to all of Curtin’s campuses.

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok.

Krista Dunstan and Prof Simon Leunig during the meeting at Curtin Malaysia

Prof Leunig and Dunstan exchanging souvenirs

Group photo of Dunstan and Prof Leunig and other Curtin Malaysia representatives