31 March 2005 Media Statement

Education counsellor for Kuala Lumpur announced

New Zealand’s fourth offshore education counsellor will be located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in order to help build education links with South East Asian educators and education policy leaders, Education Minister Trevor Mallard announced today.

“The fourth education counsellor will be placed in South East Asia to consolidate existing long standing education relationships in the region and to develop new education partnerships, and to build on recent diplomatic and trade initiatives to ASEAN,” Trevor Mallard said.

“Kuala Lumpur has been selected as the location within South East Asia due to depth and breadth of the education relationships between New Zealand and Malaysia at government, government agency and education sector level.

" A base in Kuala Lumpur will give the counsellor excellent opportunities to develop relationships with other ASEAN countries, and to build links with regional organisations such as the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO).

“The counsellor will also work to build the reputation of New Zealand education within South East Asia and support institution-to-institution relationships between South East Asian and New Zealand tertiary providers. This will provide increased support for deepening cooperation between New Zealand and South East Asia around student exchanges.

“The education counsellor positions were introduced as part of the government's Budget 2004 $40 million investment in our multi-billion dollar export education industry. Education counsellors are responsible for developing bilateral international education partnerships with the key country or region in which they are based.

"The first counsellor was appointed to Beijing in August 2004. A second counsellor will be appointed to Washington in July this year, and a third to Brussels in September. The new education counsellor for South East Asia will be in Kuala Lumpur early in 2006," Trevor Mallard said.

ENDS

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