Putrajaya FOI Records Over Two Million Visitors, Declared Annual National Event

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The five-day Putrajaya Festival of Ideas (Putrajaya FOI) 2025, led by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), concluded in grand style at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) last night.

The MOHE said the second edition of the prestigious festival, held from Nov 4-8, was expanded nationwide when it was also held in 13 states throughout October, before culminating in Putrajaya with the theme 'MADANI: Shaping the Future, Realising Ideas’.

It added that the Putrajaya FOI is now recognised as a national movement after the Cabinet agreed to make it an annual event on the national calendar, thus acknowledging its role as a key platform in empowering the ideas, innovations and creativity of Malaysians.

"At the same time, there are suggestions to make the Putrajaya FOI an official programme under the ASEAN Higher Education Programme and at the regional level,” it added.

The MOHE announced that various achievements and new records were set through Putrajaya FOI, with it attracting 2.05 million visitors, comprising 550,000 in-person visitors and 1.55 million virtual attendees.

"This shows the strong support and keen interest of the people in knowledge and educational platforms to jointly develop our beloved country,” it added.

The MOHE said the MyIDEAS Conference, a key segment of the Putrajaya FOI, served as a platform for discourse, presentations and sharing of high-impact ideas, with 234 sessions recorded involving 251 leaders, experts, academia and industry players.

"The organisation of the MyIDEAS Conference has been recognised as a new record in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) as the Most Academic Discourse Conferences in a Single Ideas and Innovation Event in Malaysia,” it added.

It said that MyIDEAS Connect featured over 200 pavilions and booths, with the involvement of 2,000 exhibitors from public and private higher educational institutions as well as government agencies, industries and the community, which witnessed 102 exchanges of strategic agreements valued at over RM172 million, involving collaboration in research, innovation and service sharing.

The MOHE added that international participation also increased, with the presence of over 1,000 thinkers, academics and international students, as well as the collection of 10,000 creative ideas via the IdeaVault platform, which have the potential to be innovative solutions to current issues.

"The Putrajaya FOI has proven the MOHE's commitment to making higher education the pillar of MADANI national development, which balances the advancement of knowledge, technology and human values,” it added.

-- BERNAMA