Kuala lumpur: 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.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the second edition of the prestigious festival, held from Nov 4-8, was expanded nationwide, being hosted in 13 states throughout October, before culminating in Putrajaya with the theme ‘MADANI: Shaping the Future, Realising Ideas’. The Cabinet has now acknowledged the festival as a national movement by agreeing to make it an annual event on the national calendar, recognizing its role in empowering the ideas, innovations, and creativity of Malaysians.

The MOHE revealed that Putrajaya FOI achieved remarkable success by attracting 2.05 million visitors, with 550,000 attending in-person and 1.55 million participating virtually. This turnout underscores the strong public support for platforms that foster knowledge and educational development in Malaysia.

A key highlight of the festival was the MyIDEAS Conference, which facilitated discourse, presentations, and the sharing of high-impact ideas. The conference set a new record in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) for hosting the Most Academic Discourse Conferences in a Single Ideas and Innovation Event in Malaysia, featuring 234 sessions involving 251 leaders, experts, academics, and industry players.

The MyIDEAS Connect segment showcased over 200 pavilions and booths, engaging 2,000 exhibitors from various sectors including public and private higher educational institutions, government agencies, industries, and the community. This segment witnessed 102 strategic agreements valued at over RM172 million, focusing on collaborations in research, innovation, and service sharing.

The MOHE highlighted the increased international participation, with over 1,000 thinkers, academics, and international students attending, and the IdeaVault platform collecting 10,000 creative ideas that hold potential as innovative solutions to current issues. The festival has underscored MOHE’s commitment to making higher education the cornerstone of MADANI national development, aligning the progress of knowledge, technology, and human values.