Tan Sri Halim Saad graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington in 1977 and since returning to Malaysia has become one of the country’s most successful business leaders, responsible for projects like Malaysia’s north–south expressway and the satellite terminal at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport. He has also maintained close links with New Zealand, helping establish a new programme to allow Malaysian accounting students to finish their degrees at Victoria, Auckland and Canterbury universities, and co-founding the Chair of Malay Studies at Victoria. He received a distinguished service award from Victoria in 1999 and won a Friend of New Zealand Award at the Kea World Class New Zealanders awards in 2015.