On Januari 2019, Malaysia through the City of Petaling Jaya is named as one of the 10 winners of the 2019 UNESCO Learning City Award for its exemplary progress and commitment to promote education and lifelong learning at the local level.

The City of Petaling Jaya was the first city in Malaysia that received this recognition and it is indeed a proud moment for Malaysia. According to the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Petaling Jaya had made great strides to improve access to public learning spaces, providing free bus services across four city routes which also double as information disseminators through their on-board screens. The city is also making good use of the resources provided by the partners.”

Nine other winners are Aswan (Egypt), Chengdu (China), Heraklion (Greece), Ibadan (Nigeria), Medellín (Colombia), Melitopol (Ukraine), Santiago (Mexico), Seodaemun-gu (Republic of Korea) and Sønderborg (Denmark).