Collaboration Initiation: Signing Memorandum of Agreement Between FEB UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta And Universiti Teknikal Melaka (UTeM) Malaysia

The initiation of collaborative activities between the Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Business, and IPTK UTeM (the Institute of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship) began in August 2023 with various programs, such as the Joint Colloquium for MM students of FEB UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta and master’s students at IPTK. This was followed by faculty exchanges, joint publications, and international collaborative research. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Zaki Bin A Bakar, MNCC, SEARCC, the Dean of IPTK, appreciated the swift actions and the implementation of collaborative activities by the UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta PIC team. The extensive execution of the collaboration activities has successfully led to the signing of the MoU between both parties, with the UTeM delegation, Prof. Dr. Sameer Ali Hussein Al-Shami, welcomed by the Rector, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Irhas Effendi, along with the Vice Rector 3, the Dean of FEB, the Dean of FTI, and the management team of the Management Department on September 27, 2024, in the Rectorate Meeting Room on the 1st floor.

In his speech, the Rector of UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta expressed his gratitude for the support and collaboration from the partnership, hoping that concrete activities will focus on enhancing collaborative learning capacity to support the achievement of internationally competitive graduates. Various policies have been implemented by UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, one of which is encouraging Study Programs to engage in established collaboration activities, including adding international collaborative research grant schemes at UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta’s LPPM.

The Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Dr. Januar Eko Prasetyo, S.E., M.Si., Akt, also encouraged the study programs to actively support faculty and students in engaging in off-campus activities, hoping that these experiences will help build mutually beneficial networking opportunities. The Dean gave positive feedback on the joint publication efforts by the Study Program. To make the most of the presence of colleagues from UTeM, the department head facilitated coordination between the writing team and Prof. Dr. Sammer as a coach for publication of articles in Scopus-indexed journals. Articles reviewed by the UTeM review team have been submitted and are under review, and it is hoped that this output will improve the Study Program's KPI.

The Head of the Department, Dr. Titik Kusmantini, S.E., M.Si, reported that three faculty members in the Management Department had successfully secured international collaborative research grants. Two faculty teams are conducting collaborative research with UiTM, led by Prof. Dr. M. Irhas Effendi and Dr. Dyah Sugandini, S.E., M.Si. Meanwhile, the international collaborative research team with UTeM includes Dr. Titik Kusmantini, SE, M.Si (as the Lead Researcher at UPN V YK), Dr. Anida Robani (Lead Researcher at UTeM), and research team members Dr. Heru Tri Sutiono, S.E., M.Si, and Dr. Zuhrohtun, S.E., M.Si, Akt. The research title is: The Nexus Between Digital Economy and Cooperative for Sustainable Rural Development: Comparative Study of Supply Chain Performance between BUMDes Indonesia and Desa Lestari Cooperatives, Malaysia.