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Campaign ME
2 days ago
- Business
- Campaign ME
Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Leaders reach a consensus on critical marketing strategies
Campaign Middle East has successfully concluded its third event of the year – Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 – which witnessed a room full of client-side marketers, agency and adtech leaders reaching a consensus to get back to the fundamentals of curiosity, creativity, consumer-first mindsets and cold hard business outcomes at the Grand Plaza Mövenpick in Dubai Media City on 29 May. The event began with a look at the fundamental shift towards 'outcomes' to drive business impact. Panel discussions at the event also dissected human-first approaches, personalisation, and the importance of brand fundamentals as channels fragment at speed. Panelists discussed how B2B and B2C expectations are converging, and how AI is increasingly shaping how audiences discover and interact with content and brands. Marketers and industry leaders also discussed the benefits of a fragmented media landscape, the shift from traditional media to precision media, the impact of AI on marketing strategies and the need for brands to adapt to consumer behaviour in an era when consumer attention is fleeting. Challenges around cross-channel measurement were voiced and the potential of creative storytelling and innovative marketing strategies were reinforced. Additionally, the 'education piece' and cultural relevance were discussed while keeping an eye on brand and business outcomes as well as creative ambition. Panellists discussed how to craft creative campaigns that not only inspire but also drive tangible results and resonate deeply with diverse communities. Here's an in-depth look into how the event – organised by Motivate Media Group's Campaign Middle East, in partnership with Bloomberg Media, Platformance, and SRMG Media Solutions – panned out: Welcome speech The event began with a welcome speech by Nadeem Quraishi, Publisher, Campaign Middle East, who briefed the attendees about the brand's latest developments. Quraishi introduced Campaign Middle East's first bilingual edition of The Saudi Report, which marked the brand's first inclusion of Arabic-language content in print in its 16-year history. He also announced the official launch of the brand's Arabic-language website, expanding its digital offering to better serve audiences across the region. He shared the latest details about Campaign Middle East's Agency of the Year Awards, which is scheduled to take place on 11 December in Dubai, as well as about Athar Festival 2025, which is set to be bigger and bolder this year with more than 3,000 attendees, more than 150 speakers, more than 80 activations, and several new zones such as content creation, AI, production, and luxury brand marketing, among others. Chair's opening remarks Campaign Middle East Editor Anup Oommen then took the stage to deliver the chair's opening remarks. He discussed how marketers need to add a 'protein shake' of marketing strategy to their diet — blending creativity, culture, credibility and storytelling. Oommen detailed how generative AI, agentic AI, shopping agents and other AI tools are revolutionising the full marketing funnel, before calling for marketers to embrace change, try-test-and-scale strategies, and choose to upskill quickly rather than relying on what worked in the past. 'If time, attention and engagement are the marketing battlegrounds of the present, then consumer-first approaches of trust and empathy will be the marketing battlegrounds of the near future. Transactional relationships in the market absolutely won't make the cut any more. The industry requires meaningful partnerships with stakeholders across the supply chain; and brands need to resonate more deeply and more personally with communities and individuals,' he said. Calling it a 'challenging path' but one that is brimming with opportunity for those willing to lead the charge, Oommen added, 'Although this may sound very uncomfortable – we must embrace change, choose to educate ourselves, harness technology and cultivate marketing strategies that are both meaningful and measurable.' Keynote: The outcomes graph: Why the future of marketing is not where you advertise, but what it delivers Getting the event started, Wade Eagar, Chief Marketing Officer, took the attendees on a journey into the Outcomes Graph, exploring the shift from media placement to business impact. Eager highlighted the importance of outcome driven marketing, calling for a return to keeping the end-goal-in-mind instead of being focused on a budget-first approach. He also stressed on the need for cross-functional collaboration and performance-driven strategies to to shift the focus from mere metrics to business business outcomes. 'Outcome is a fundamental shift going back to how we drive business value,' Eager said. 'Start with the outcome, not the brief. Measure what you own — and this is the piece I want to bring home — move away from focusing only on the external data that we spend so much time measuring and building a nice story around, and move towards the internal data that shows up on the P&L. However, it's not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater, it's about stitching these two together to align with business outcomes.' He also called for marketers to become a lot more 'commercial' in the sense of learning to work cross-functionally. As a result, there's a shift coming through where marketers are asking: What does the business need, rather than how can we deliver a brief based on the given budget? 'The new marketer is not asking is it brand versus performance — they're looking at both; they're not getting rid of the creative — they're asking for the creative to perform; they're not saying get rid of the data — they're asking for value within the data rather than volume. At the end of the day, we need to understand our customers, and help them to take an exit that drives business value,' Eager concluded. Panel 1: Next-gen marketing: Personalisation, AI and the blurring lines of B2B and B2C The first panel discussion of the day witnessed multiple client-side marketers leading the charge, including: Aimee Peters , Regional Head of Brand, Partnerships and Wholesale Marketing, MENAT, HSBC , Regional Head of Brand, Partnerships and Wholesale Marketing, MENAT, Loay Nour, Vice President – Brand and Marketing Communications, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Vice President – Brand and Marketing Communications, Sohail Nawaz, MBE, Head of Retail Media, Landmark Group, and Head of Retail Media, and Virginie Ludmer, Director of Marketing & PR, Volkswagen Middle East The panel, powered by Bloomberg Media and moderated by Emily Bentley, Head of Client Marketing, MEA at Bloomberg Media, discussed ways to navigate complex B2B sign-off chains to meeting B2C's demand for deeper, more meaningful connections, using strategies that engage with both humans and machines. The session also explored how to create campaigns that are not only intelligent and personalised, but also authentic, locally resonant and built for a landscape where trust, nuance and relevance matter more than ever. Aimee Peters emphasised the importance of brand fundamentals as channels fragment at speed, calling for marketers to hold on to old-school essentials, including curiosity, creativity, empathy and 'cold hard business outcomes'. Peters explained, 'The curiosity about why people do the things that they do is always going to underpin everything. The ability to challenge is always critical. But you can't constructively challenge if you're not curious and if you're not thinking about humans,' Peters said. 'We have to market to be human, first and foremost. But as we get deeper into sort of proposition-level marketing, we start to distinguish through much more personalised campaigns, which is where the distinction becomes much more apparent. However, the critical piece is that we need to think about being human-first.' The discussion also explored how personalisation has progressed from predictive AI — figuring out the best time to send that prospective and speculative marketing email moving into generative AI, where AI crafts bespoke content — to an era of Agentic AI, where shopping agents reach out to consumers on their birthdays, asking about their celebration plans and then taking care of their outfit shopping, from discovery to purchase and having it delivered all before they head out to celebrate. Speaking about the need for 'secret cyborgs' to be celebrated, Sohail Nawaz, MBE, explained, 'Secret cyborgs are those people who are using AI, but nobody knows they are using AI because they're not telling you what they're using. This is interesting at a time where business leadership is figuring out a clear policy on what they ought to do with AI and the governance around it. In such a context, there needs to be a lab set-up within the business environment that pulls these secret cyborgs to test AI tools.' He added, 'These stealth employees using AI are now becoming pioneers in new AI lab environments that companies are setting up, even as leadership teams set out their clear vision for AI's impact on the workplace and organisation. What does this teach us? Don't wait to be an AI expert — just be AI active.' Addressing the conversation around business-to-business (B2B) audiences and business-to-consumer (B2C) audiences, Loay Nour said, 'We make sure that whenever we create any campaign that we take into consideration the two audiences and the channels — especially as we go through the creation of the process. What's interesting is not only B2C and B2B audiences, which we always think about, but also how to create a funnel for B2B2C, because they become your advocates to promote your brand and your campaign.' Wrapping up the discussion well on the blurring lines between B2B and B2C, Virginie Ludmer said, 'At the end of the day, the brand promise is the same. At the end of the day, we're all looking to enhance the customer experience. Whether we're working alongside our dealerships, in terms of B2B, or our consumers, in terms of B2C, we need to really ensure that their success is also our success — together.' To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. Panel 2: Fragmented media landscape: A boon or a bane for marketing in the Middle East? The second panel, conducted in partnership with SRMG Media Solutions, and moderated by Nader Bitar, Director of Digital Solutions, SRMG, welcomed to the stage, Mitin Chakraborty , Head of Marketing , Babyshop, Nikola Djordjevic, Head of Marketing, ASICS Arabia, Andrew Ene , Head of Performance, Spark Foundry MENA, and , Head of Performance, and Anjana Murali, Associate Director – Growth & Best Practices, Keyade Middle East The panellists delved into an in-depth discussion on capturing attention and connecting with consumers in a fragmented media landscape; identifying core target audiences and the most relevant media channels to reach them; as well as developing a cohesive brand story that can be consistently communicated across chosen media touchpoints. Nikola Djordjevic said, 'We have all seen a major shift in the way customers consume media and entertainment, and we all need to be where these customers and consumers are. These people don't want to be passive consumers of media on traditional channels such as television anymore; they want to consume on the go and whenever and wherever they choose. So, I think, we as brands need to evolve, as well. It's not about going omnichannel every time. Instead, we need to pick our battles and choose the best medium contextually at a given moment of time depending on where — and when — the consumer wants it.' Mitin Chakraborty built on this discussion, calling for brands to pick and choose channels that are relevant to the brand, and based on what's relevant to the customer and to the category. 'I think that magical mix is what we need – a mix of logic and magic; a mix of the art and the science, which is super critical,' Chakraborty said. 'I think it goes back to always us as marketers, really identifying: What's the problem that we're trying to solve? Now, there are those who may call it grand idea to focus on purpose, but I think it's very important if you're trying to chase brand equity within this fragmented space, It's very important for us to know what is our biggest story, and how that is being translated across every touch point for our customers.' During the discussion, Andrew Ene also shared how the marketers' mindsets have now shifted to multi-channel more than omnichannel, especially since the latter is a term that has been overused through the years. Ene said, 'Omnichannel is more about what's the brand truth that you're trying to communicate to the consumer, and how do you make sure that you communicate that brand truth consistently across every touch point that the consumer engages with. However, when you're thinking of multi-channel strategies, you're thinking about making a choice about where you have the right to win based on where the consumers are at in a fragmented media landscape, and then crafting a story that touches all of those points.' Anjana Murali added, 'The way we fundamentally think about marketing is shifting. Quite often, we find ourselves as marketers sitting in a room to identify five personas that match our brand. However, if you're thinking of narrowing all of your target audiences into merely five personas, you're already missing out. This is where algorithms and AI come into the picture. They can predict and reach people far better than we used to do, and can do.' She continues, 'However, just because AI and algorithms seem to be doing the heavy lifting, it doesn't mean some of us marketers can take a nap. It's important to marry the two together — what AI can do and what we bring to the table in terms of our experience, the creative, understanding the feedback, leveraging what message resonates with the user, and more. That creative and strategic input still lies with us — and that's why at the core, we are still needed.' Before the panel concluded, Chakraborty also highlighted standardised measurement as a common pain point that needs to be addressed on priority — a problem that's becoming a road block for marketers trying to join the dots in terms of decision-making around platforms, providers and an ideal full-funnel approach. To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. Fireside chat: Balancing creative ambition, business objectives, and community-driven demand for relevance The final discussion of the event, a fireside chat with marketers, explored ways to measure the effectiveness of cultural relevance within campaigns, while simultaneously staying aligned with broader brand and business objectives. The fireside chat, moderated by Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East, welcomed on stage two client-side marketers, including, Iva Kutle Škrlec , Director, Destination Marketing, Hilton MEA, and , Director, Destination Marketing, and Remya Menon, Associate Director of Marketing, Bayut Iva Kutle Škrlec said, 'I think the whole cultural relevance piece starts by defining what that means for your brand and what you're trying to achieve, because that then determines what you're measuring. Do you need a brand-lift study? Do you need to look at your engagement rates and so on? For example, when we launch channels and newsletters and content that resonates with a lot of people in the region and links into cultural concepts here, we definitely see increased engagement rate, engagement rates, and better response from our customers. But again, there needs to be a piece where you ultimately tie that back to the business and say, 'okay, this is having an impact' or is it just a nice to have, and are we getting it right?' Through the chat, marketers discussed the cultural nuances of the region — how there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to 'Middle East culture' or the 'Arabic' language, given that the region is a confluence of so many different cultures, dialects, traditions, beliefs, histories, and nuanced forms of expressing each of these. Škrlec added, 'So I think getting that granularity right and to understand what it is exactly that resonates with people — in terms of messaging, offers, promotions and products is essential. The way we market one hotel in this market might be entirely different to another place. That's why it ultimately comes down to that granularity of what matters to each individual community and customer and what impact it has on the brand and the business outcomes.' Building on this conversation of measuring the impact and effectiveness of getting cultural relevance right, Remya Menon, said, 'I'll be honest, the measurement piece is a conversation that we have all the time, almost on a weekly basis with our CEO, and we've been doing this for about two years. And I think measurement and specifically in the context of cultural relevance is difficult, right? But am I saying that it's impossible? No. We have all of our usual levers such as brand lift studies, surveys, feedback loops and so on and so forth. But as a brand guardian, you also have to build your own hardware and use your internal data and what your audience is actually feeding back to you to build those measurement methods.' Through the discussion, the marketers delved into the need to truly listen to consumers in order to get the 'cultural relevance piece right'. Menon added, 'Yes, there are KPI-driven conversations and there are creativity-driven conversations, but the consumers now have made their opinions very clear — they want to co-create with brands. They want their feedback to be heard and to be more involved in the conversation.' The panellists also discussed the need to build the right team structures to ensure that creative outputs and brand is aligned with cultural relevance, and organizational culture: Nurturing a safe environment that embraces mistakes and learning is how you innovate and stay ahead of the curve. They concluded the discussion sharing their take on the course correction required within the industry. To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. All in all, some of the key takeaways that attendees shared from the event were: Curiosity remains key; those who take a hands-on approach to the latest tools are those who will win. However, the adage 'garbage-in-garbage-out' remains true, given that generative AI tools are only as smart as the information they learn from, and the prompts they respond to. Meanwhile, even as personalisation, shopping agents, precision targeting and tasteful messaging are shaping marketing strategies, the core objective of the 'game' still remains to serve people. The magic of marketing strategies is to take a human-first approach and be a brand that matters to people. After the keynotes and panels at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 event, attendees stayed back for a time of networking. 1/4 Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 Attendees networking at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 event. For those of you who were unable to attend this stellar gathering of like-minded leaders shaping the top trends and addressing the top challenges in the industry, keep an eye out for the YouTube video of the entire event. Mark you calendars. Campaign Middle East's next event, Campaign Breakfast Briefing: The Future is Now, which will be held on 12 September 2025.
Mint
3 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Donald Trump shoots his own global mouthpiece
Many have tried to stifle the Voice of America (VOA) in the eight decades since its hurried birth as a wartime broadcaster in 1942. These days China blocks its website and jams its signals. In 2017 Russia declared VOA to be a 'foreign agent'. Yet it is President Donald Trump who may silence it for good. His executive order on March 14th to 'eliminate' the network as far as legally possible had an immediate effect. Its 1,300 staff members were placed on paid leave. Broadcasts in 48 languages soon stopped. Such is the demise of a network whose 'jazz hour' famously beamed the 'music of freedom' behind the Iron Curtain. A similar fate has befallen or awaits Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks' Arabic-language outlets and Radio and TV Martí, which broadcast to Cuba. For Elon Musk, America's chief cost-cutter, the networks are just waste. 'Nobody listens to them anymore' he posted on X, claiming they consisted of 'radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money'. Mr Musk is wrong to say 'nobody' listens. The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the government body that oversees all these outlets, claims they reach 427m people weekly in 63 languages and over 100 countries. VOA alone has a bigger audience than other publicly funded international broadcasters, such as the BBC World Service (see chart 1). Few people in America will have heard of them because they do not broadcast to the home audience. This may explain why the outlets have few powerful friends there. Yet there are legitimate and longstanding questions to be asked about whether they spread democracy and enhance American power, and whether they provide value for their annual $900m cost. These are even more salient in a world awash with blogs, newsletters and podcasts. 'Project 2025', a conservative blueprint for Mr Trump's second term, argued the USAGM was rife with left-wing bias, prone to repeating foes' propaganda, poorly run and, because of lax practices in security clearances, a target for foreign spies. Little of this has been proved. Nevertheless, Project 2025 recommended reform of the agency if possible, or its abolition if not. Kari Lake, a former TV presenter and devotee of Mr Trump, who has been nominated as VOA's director, for a time favoured reform and returning VOA to 'its glory days'. When Mr Trump announced his executive orders, though, she declared that 'from top to bottom, this agency is a giant rot.' Controversy over VOA and its siblings dates back almost to their establishment. RFE and RL were set up in the early cold war, partly inspired by George Kennan, an American diplomat, to wage 'organised political warfare' on the Kremlin. RFE transmitted to 'captive nations' under Soviet occupation; RL beamed to the Soviet Union itself. After the collapse of the Hungarian revolution of 1956, RFE was accused of having crossed a legal line between reporting and incitement. Nearly two decades later the revelation that the CIA had been funnelling money to the stations led to efforts in the Senate to shut them down, using arguments that sound surprisingly contemporary: their high cost; that western European countries should pay; and the difficulty of knowing whether they were useful. Their defenders included Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon. Some ten years later the debate still raged: 'The worth of the broadcasts, in dollars and cents, is almost incapable of measurement,' said a study published in 1982, concluding that 'the benefits do seem substantial.' Many credit the stations with helping to defeat Soviet communism. Lech Walesa, Poland's former president, said his country's freedom was won by RFE and the pope. Meanwhile, RL was the first to broadcast the full text of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's 'Gulag Archipelago', a book that reputedly struck Soviet leaders 'like an atom bomb'. It is inevitably harder to assess the broadcasters' contribution in more recent times. By some measures the outlets have reported considerable success. Over the past decade they have nearly doubled the size of their weekly audience, from 215m in 2014 to 427m in 2024, despite increased competition. One reason for this may be that listeners see them as trustworthy. The Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, found that VOA accounted for 55% of online searches in 26 countries in Asia for foreign-radio broadcasters, well ahead of the second-most popular outlet, Russia's Sputnik, with 27% (see chart 2). The USAGM's most valuable units are probably those that most Americans have never heard of, such as Radio Free Asia, which can reach audiences living under the boot of authoritarian states that have few other reliable sources of news. It is one of the few independent media outlets that can winkle stories out of North Korea, or can generate scoops from Xinjiang and Tibet in China. The revelations of ethnic Uyghurs being corralled in massive Chinese 're-education' camps were largely its work. It is also one of the few independent news outlets that reaches Uyghurs, who try to evade state censorship of the internet by listening to its radio broadcasts. Though Russians face nothing like the levels of censorship and oppression of Uyghurs, RFE/RL plays an important role in nurturing independent local journalism. The strength of these outfits lies in their history as surrogates for local media behind the Iron Curtain, where they hired exiles to report on those countries in the local languages. This tradition continues today, with tailor-made programmes reaching the remotest regions that other outlets do not, from Dagestan to Siberia, and breaking stories about local corruption scandals and much more. VOA is akin to a state broadcaster like the BBC, offering a mix of political (especially American) news and lifestyle features and has the largest audience. But it is harder to argue that it provides an irreplaceable service across much of the world. Never before have people had access to such a wide range of news sources. There are, however, exceptions, particularly in parts of Africa where VOA covers smaller countries and contested elections that are often ignored. Its publicity can play a role in protecting opposition politicians and activists. 'In shining a spotlight on individual leaders, VOA helps to add a layer of security for them,' says Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy outfit based in Washington. 'It lets leaders of [oppressive] governments know that the world—and that Washington in particular—is paying attention.' Staff at USAGM still hope that, faced with an outcry and lawsuits, the administration may relent. RFE/RL may be in a better position than their siblings as they may win a reprieve from European governments, ten of which said they would work together to find funding. The networks are trying to protect vulnerable staff from being sent home to repressive regimes. One reform option might be to merge overlapping functions and language services. USAGM uses complex metrics to measure its impact, including its audience, its trustworthiness, influence, and whether it increases knowledge of international news, particularly in places targeted by state-sponsored disinformation. Yet are reach and trustworthiness enough? Insiders argue that they produce invaluable journalism for less than Russia and China spend on their foreign-influence operations. They argue that they must be pricking a nerve, given the repression their journalists suffer: at least ten are currently in prison. Yet amid America's wider retreat from the network of alliances that have largely kept the peace for almost 80 years, and its gleeful destruction of a liberal economic order that made it richer, there is little hope that arguments around soft power or appeals to high-minded ideals will sway Mr Trump or Mr Musk. Nor will the gloating of America's foes. 'We couldn't shut them down, unfortunately,' said Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russia's RT network. 'But America did so itself.' As their broadcasts cease, candles of hope in some of the world's darkest places are being snuffed out.
Broadcast Pro
6 days ago
- Business
- Broadcast Pro
Yango Play and du partner to deliver exclusive premium content across UAE
As part of the rollout, du is offering a complimentary 12-month Yango Play subscription to eligible customers on select home plans. Yango Play, the all-in-one entertainment super-app, has partnered with UAE telecom giant du to offer a new level of digital entertainment to customers nationwide. The collaboration brings Yango Play to du's select Home Plans via the 'My Favourites' platform, giving subscribers access to a wide range of premium content. This strategic partnership enhances the entertainment experience for du users by combining streaming, music, and interactive gaming into a single, seamless application. Yango Play's exclusive video lineup features seven Arabic-language productions, including four titles available only on the platform. The series spans genres from drama and comedy to family-friendly fare, offering culturally relevant stories that resonate with regional audiences. In addition to exclusive series and films, the app provides users with a vast music library, tailored playlists, and an array of casual and interactive games, catering to a variety of entertainment preferences. Speaking about the collaboration, Roman Shimansky, Chief Executive Officer of Yango Play, said: 'We are thrilled to join forces with du to offer a truly comprehensive entertainment experience that extends beyond streaming. With an unmatched mix of movies, series, music, and gaming, Yango Play is redefining digital entertainment in the region. This partnership with du allows us to make premium content more accessible to users across the UAE.' Karim Benkirane, Chief Commercial Officer at du, added: 'At du, we believe in going beyond traditional boundaries to elevate the experiences we offer our valued customers. Our collaboration and year-long journey with Yango Play manifests this vision by bringing families together and enriching lives across the UAE.' As part of its commitment to delivering added value to its customers, du is offering a 12-months complimentary subscription to Yango Play on select home plans. Eligible subscribers can activate their complimentary Yango Play subscription easily through the du app.
New Straits Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Malaysia, Egypt agree on Usim as gateway for Al-Azhar medical studies
JASIN: The governments of Egypt and Malaysia have agreed to designate Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim) as a one-stop centre for students sponsored by Al-Azhar University to pursue medical studies at the prestigious institution. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the selected students would undergo a one-year 'familiarisation course' at USIM before departing to continue their studies at Al-Azhar University. "As part of the process of sending students to Egypt, we will conduct a one-year Arabic-language familiarisation course at USIM, as agreed by both the Egyptian and Malaysian governments," he told reporters after attending the launch of the Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI) Dakwah Complex and the DMDI Foundation Tahfiz Centre at Maahad Tahfiz Sulaimaniyyah, Kampung Tersusun DMDI Bukit Senggeh, Selandar, here today. The ceremony, officiated by the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Melaka, Tun Mohd Ali Rustam, was also attended by Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh and DMDI Foundation chairman Datuk Mohd Ridhwan Mohd Ali. The DMDI Foundation Tahfiz Centre began construction in 2021 and was completed in February this year, with 37 students enrolled in its first intake. Ahmad Zahid said the government also prioritised outstanding tahfiz school graduates, especially those with a Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Level 5, to pursue medical studies at Al-Azhar University.
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Malaysia, Egypt agree on USIM as gateway for Al-Azhar medical studies
JASIN: The governments of Egypt and Malaysia have agreed to designate Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) as a one-stop centre for students sponsored by Al-Azhar University to pursue medical studies at the prestigious institution. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the selected students would undergo a one-year 'familiarisation course' at USIM before departing to continue their studies at Al-Azhar University. 'As part of the process of sending students to Egypt, we will conduct a one-year Arabic-language familiarisation course at USIM, as agreed by both the Egyptian and Malaysian governments,' he said. He was speaking to reporters after attending the launch of the Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI) Dakwah Complex and the DMDI Foundation Tahfiz Centre at Maahad Tahfiz Sulaimaniyyah, Kampung Tersusun DMDI Bukit Senggeh, Selandar, here today. The ceremony, officiated by the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Melaka, Tun Mohd Ali Rustam, was also attended by Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh and DMDI Foundation chairman Datuk Mohd Ridhwan Mohd Ali. The DMDI Foundation Tahfiz Centre began construction in 2021 and was completed in February this year, with 37 students enrolled in its first intake. Ahmad Zahid said the government also prioritised outstanding tahfiz school graduates, especially those with a Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Level 5, to pursue medical studies at Al-Azhar University. Commenting on Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) request to contest 13 seats in the upcoming Sabah state election, Ahmad Zahid, who is also UMNO president, said discussions were still ongoing between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH). 'To me, the request is an internal matter among PH component parties, and we fully respect the cooperation between BN and PH as well as the negotiations with local parties in Sabah. 'A final decision will be made once the Sabah State Legislative Assembly is dissolved,' he said.
