“I believe Malaysia plays a crucial role as an offshore education hub for developing nations. Our educational institutions in terms of quality, ranking, and governance, create an ecosystem by which international students are able to gain the knowledge required to become leaders in their field and accelerate the prosperity of their home countries. MyUniZone is the culmination of my research and analysis brought to the digital age, with the aim of ensuring students are aware of the opportunities here, and can study in Malaysia with as little obstacle as possible.’’

MyUniZone is the brainchild of Yazid Hamid, a seasoned veteran in the education industry and previously the founding CEO of Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), a government-owned company under the purview of the Ministry of Higher Education that manages the movement of international students in Malaysia.

While CEO of EMGS, En. Yazid learned that two main factors had a negative impact on international student recruitment – student visa processing, and application rate. Under his leadership, EMGS tackled student visa issues by reducing student visa processing from 2-3 months down to 14 working days, pushing for enhanced visa facilities for students, removing bureaucratic inefficiencies, and expanding recruitment efforts around the world..

Boosting application rates required a more innovative approach. With nearly 500 institutions across West and East Malaysia, foreign students have a hard time accessing information on course programs, academic requirements, and application deadlines. Knowing this, Yazid sought to make it easier for students to apply directly to Malaysian universities using a fully digital approach.

This led him to develop MyUniZone as a one-stop resource centre for international students applying to Malaysia. MyUniZone’s portal enables students to explore and choose from a wide range of course programs at vetted private higher education institutions, without the need for an agent or middleman. Additional features include a universal application form that students can fill out to apply to multiple universities, and real-time application updates to make the process as easy and convenient as possible.