This is Malaysia’s National Defence University, where the country’s future defence leaders are shaped.  DCDS – M met them to understand where collaboration might be possible, and the conversation opened onto something genuinely exciting, their interest in building an innovation ecosystem in the spirit of Brainport in the Netherlands, that famous model where research, industry, and government work as one engine.  DCDS – M came to understand their vision and to show how the coalition could help bring a proven European approach into a Malaysian setting.  This is a long – term anchor, the kind of academic and innovation partnership that grows year after year and ties the two nations together at the level of ideas and talent.  The meeting planted the seed of a flagship collaboration, and the return visit later in May grew it further.  It positioned the coalition as more than a supplier, as a genuine builder of ecosystems, which is a rare thing to be known for.