The Saudi Arabian government will increase the number of scholarships for Malaysian students to study in the Kingdom next year.

Head of the Cultural Mission at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Malaysia, Dr Zayed Al Harithi, said there are currently more than 100 Malaysian students studying in Saudi.

According to him, decision to increase the scholarships was due to the overwhelming number of scholarship applications received last year, which was more than 300.

"There were only 100 scholarships available for Malaysian students last year to study at Imam Mohamed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh.

"We have many more universities in Saudi Arabia and we will give more scholarships to Malaysian students for them to pursue their studies in other universities," he told reporters at the ice-breaking event between Malaysia and Saudi Arabian media in Kuala Lumpur, last night.

He said the scholarship covers studies at diploma, bachelor, master and PhD levels, for all programmes, except medicine.

Benefits for selected students include SAR1,700 (RM2,013) and SAR1,800 (RM2,131) for Bachelor of Arts and Graduate nominees respectively. They will also receive monthly allowances, free housing and full board, medical insurance and possibility of obtaining visa for the dependents of high achievers.

The event, organised by the Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission, was held in conjunction with Saudi Arabia's King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's four-day state visit to Malaysia beginning yesterday.

Malaysia is King Salman's first country of visit in Southeast Asia since ascending the throne in 2015. The visit is at the invitation of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V.

Meanwhile, a professor at the Ummul Qura University in Makkah, Dr Saad Ali said education relations between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia was growing rapidly with more memorandum of understandings (MoU) being signed.

According to him, there are currently more than 1,500 Saudi Arabian students studying in Malaysia, noting the similarity of environment between the two countries was among the reasons that attracted them to Malaysia.

- Bernama