SINGAPORE : Singapore's private tertiary education institute, Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) plans to invest an initial S$70 million to set up a campus in Iskandar Malaysia.

The first phase of the new campus is expected to be ready by 2013 and will accommodate 2,000 students.

The second phase will be ready by 2023 and accommodate 5,000 students.

The campus is MDIS' second overseas campus and sits on some 12 hectares of land at EduCity@Iskandar, five times larger than its Singapore campus.

MDIS's first overseas campus is at Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan in Central Asia which was built in 2008 at the cost of US$20 million.

MDIS Campus Malaysia will accommodate 10,000 students when all its three phases are fully completed in 2023.

Construction is expected to start at the end of 2011.

For a start, the campus will offer 4 courses including Business Management, Mass Communications and Travel & Tourism.

It will also be among the first campuses to have some of the most eco-friendly and disability-friendly features in Southeast Asia.

MDIS Secretary General Dr R Theyvendran said Malaysia is a market of great potential as the Malaysian education sector has grown during the past decade, and has attracted more than 50,000 international students from over 100 countries.

Currently, there are an estimated 800,000 students enrolled in higher education across the country.

He added that EduCity@Iskandar has good infrastructure, logistics and other physical amenities and facilities.

It is also close to other fast-developing sectors in Iskandar such as tourism and financial services, which translate to greater job opportunities for students when they graduate.