Philippines' CHED and Malaysia's EMGS sign letter to widen ASEAN scholarship and research platform
The Philippines' Commission on Higher Education signed a Letter of Intent with Education Malaysia Global Services on 27 October to cooperate on ASEAN GEMS+, a Malaysian-built platform that now extends to research grants and researcher mobility.
The Philippines' Commission on Higher Education (CHED) signed a Letter of Intent on Tuesday with Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), a company under Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education, to cooperate on academic initiatives including an expanded ASEAN scholarship platform.
According to CHED, the letter provides a framework for the two to collaborate on the ASEAN Global Exchange for Mobility and Scholarship Plus (ASEAN GEMS+), EducationPhilippines (EduPHIL), transnational higher education and other higher education efforts.
From scholarships to research
ASEAN GEMS is a regional online platform for scholarships and university incentives managed by EMGS. Malaysia first launched it in February 2025. Under ASEAN GEMS+, the scope widens to include research grants, researcher mobility, innovation partnerships and joint research projects.
"This engagement has shown us that there is room to go beyond student mobility," CHED Chairperson Shirley C. Agrupis said, as reported by BusinessWorld. She listed sustainable fisheries, marine biodiversity conservation, climate resilience and responsible ocean resource management among shared priorities.
Agrupis said the partnership reflects the continuity between Malaysia's ASEAN Chairship in 2025 and the Philippine Chairship this year.
A two-way partnership
EMGS Chairman Datuk Ahmad Shalimin Ahmad Shaffie said the initiative has promoted over 4,000 scholarship opportunities with a combined value of nearly USD 200 million as of October 2026.
"We want not only to welcome more Filipino students to Malaysia, but to encourage opportunities for Malaysian students and institutions to engage with the Philippines," he told reporters, according to BusinessWorld.
Agrupis also said, according to ABS-CBN News, that CHED has organised an inter-agency partnership for EduPHIL, a portal system for student visa processing that she described as equivalent to EMGS.
Students and teachers can access the grants through the ASEAN GEMS digital portal and unified database platform, BusinessWorld reported.
Read the web like we doTurn any page into clean, ready-to-use data with FirecrawlKey facts
- CHED signed a Letter of Intent with Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), a company under Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education, on Tuesday 27 October 2026.
- ASEAN GEMS+ extends the scholarship platform to research grants, researcher mobility, innovation partnerships and joint research projects.
- EMGS said ASEAN GEMS has promoted over 4,000 scholarship opportunities with a combined value of nearly USD 200 million as of October 2026.
- Malaysia first launched ASEAN GEMS in February 2025.
Official sources
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