KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia lauds the readiness of Jordan to strengthen educational co-operation, especially in the field of medicine, in an effort to produce top quality medical graduates.

According to a Education Malaysia Jordan (EM Jordan) statement issued here, this was mentioned by Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar during his working visit to Jordan recently. (EM Jordan is an agency under the Ministry of Higher Education).

Kamarudin said this after a meeting with the Jordan's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research-cum-Minister of Education Dr Wajih Mousa Owais.

Also present at the meeting were Malaysian Ambassador to Jordan and Palestine Datuk Jilid Kuminding and officers from the Malaysian Embassy in Amman.

Kamaruddin also suggested that a meeting of the members of the Joint Working Group (JWG), which was previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, be continued to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both countries in 2019.

Dr Wajih Owais, on his part, hoped to see more inbound and outbound mobility involving professors so that an excellent intellectual sharing existed among the academia of both nations.

Meanwhile, Jilid said the education sector played an important role in the diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Jordan.

"This excellence in diplomatic ties will continue to be looked after and improved on from time to time," said Jilid in the statement.

Jilid said that until January 2022, there were 1,117 Malaysian students in Jordan and over 1,600 Jordanian students in Malaysia in various fields of studies, especially at the post-graduate level.

EM Jordan director associate Assoc Prof Radzuwan Ab Rashid said Education Malaysia Jordan was always ready to play its role as facilitator in the Malaysia-Jordan bilateral educational co-operation.

-- BERNAMA