Melaka chief minister Sulaiman Ali said the D-8 Education City in Taboh Naning here would be developed in three phases and cover an area of 150 hectares.

“The first phase is in progress and is expected to be completed within five years,” Sulaiman said.

He said the development of this education city was an initiative of the D-8 Malaysia foundation, following a strategic collaboration finalised in December 2018 between the D-8 Organisation and Al-Hidayah Group.

Sulaiman said D-8 is an organisation for development cooperation among eight Muslim countries — Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Nigeria.

He said a D-8 international management centre, equipped with various shared facilities, including libraries, lecture halls and sports complexes, would also be located in the education city to manage the administration of development plans.