QIU ESTABLISHMENT

Establishment

The idea of establishing Qaiwan International University goes back to 2016, when the board of directors of Qaiwan Group decided to globalize education in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to serve people by providing a high level of education with global standards. To do so, the most promising idea was to have an international partnership with a high-ranking university. Therefore, as the first step, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was chosen to be franchised due to its outstanding universal achievements in higher education.

After several rounds of negotiations between Qaiwan Group and UTM in 2017, there was a unanimous agreement on the franchise idea. Then, Qaiwan Group presented its proposal regarding establishing an international university in Sulaymaniyah to the Ministry of Higher Education. As a result, Qaiwan Group was officially licensed to establish Qaiwan International University, where students would study with the same quality as in Malaysia. The two parties agreed that UTM would award degrees to students after they graduated from QIU.

The opening ceremony of QIU was held on the Raparin Campus on August 12, 2018, under the patronage of Mr. Sheikh Fakhir Taib, the owner and CEO of Qaiwan Group, in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region, and Dr. Yousif Goran, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Kurdistan, Dr. Haval Abubakar, the Governor of Sulaymaniyah, and a representative from Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research also attended the ceremony. Furthermore, several distinguished Kurdistan Region and Iraq Parliament Members, a Representative from the Ministry of Education, board members of QIU, the President of QIU, and several respected university presidents and UTM board members attended the event. A cornerstone for Qaiwan International University's new campus was laid during the ceremony.

In September 2018, students from all over Iraq began to submit applications. Soon after, the Intensive English Programme (IEP) was launched for the accepted students, which is now the Pre-Academic Programme (PAP). Later, in February 2019, the academic programmes commenced with two faculties: the Faculty of Engineering and Science and the Faculty of Management and Social Science. The first week was the orientation week, during which the UTM Vice Chancellor, Professor Datuk Ir Dr. Wahid Bin Omar, and delegations paid a visit to Kurdistan and QIU to welcome and congratulate the students in person on officially becoming UTM students.

Prof. Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid, together with other representatives from UTM, received a special welcome from the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Kurdistan, Dr. Yousif Goran, to discuss strengthening the collaboration and the possibilities of offering UTM postgraduate programmes at Qaiwan International University. The Vice-Chancellor was also invited to share his expertise and experience in a forum organized by two satellite stations, GK and Kurdsat, on “Globalizing Higher Education in the Kurdistan Region.".

In addition, the UTM Vice Chancellor and delegations proclaimed their agreement to offer post-graduate and four engineering programmes in the coming semester during their validation visit to QIU.