Malaysia is seeking the expertise of Jordanian academicians to establish the World Association of Islamic Business School, according to a senior Malaysian official. “Jordanian universities enjoy a very strong reputation and we are seeking their expertise and assistance in our plans to build the association, to be located in Malaysia,” Professor Dato Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, vice chancellor of the government-owned Universiti Utara Malaysia, said Sunday. The association, which will be run by Malaysians and Jordanians, will provide training on Islamic finance and banking and conduct business research on how to boost trade and cooperation between members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in the fields of tourism, investment, finance and other economic concerns, he told The Jordan Times yesterday. “We want Jordan’s expertise in research and publication in building the association, which will serve the entire Islamic world,” noted Ishak, who is part of a delegation representing two Malaysian universities that started a several-day visit to the Kingdom yesterday to enhance academic cooperation. Malaysian Ambassador in Amman Dato Abdul Malek Bin Abdul Aziz said the association would boost academic cooperation between the two countries. “There is a huge focus nowadays on Islamic banking and finance and that is not only in the Muslim world but also in the West,” the ambassador told The Jordan Times on Sunday. “Malaysia is leading in the field of Islamic finance and banking and we want to use our expertise and that of Jordan to make the association a model in the Muslim world,” he said. According to the ambassador, the Malaysian delegation representing Universiti Utara Malaysia and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia will meet with high-ranking officials and academicians. Professor Jailani Bin MD Yunos, assistant vice chancellor at the state-run Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, said his institution is looking forward to cooperating with Jordanian universities and hosting Jordanian students and professors. “Our university has recently submitted a request to Jordan to be accredited. We currently do not have Jordanians students, but we seek to build cooperation with Jordanian universities,” he told The Jordan Times on Sunday. The university, which is implementing a World Bank-funded programme to foster vocational training, is ready to cooperate with Jordanians to enhance its expertise in the fields of vocational training, the professor said yesterday. “Our programmes focus on making training models based on supply and demand and addressing the market’s needs, and we are ready to share our expertise with Jordan,” he added.