A Scottish university is to become the first in the UK to open a campus in Singapore as part of wider efforts to capitalise on the lucrative market for overseas students.

Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University will undertake the new venture, which will be called QMU Asia Campus, in a joint project with the East Asia Institute of Management, which it has collaborated with for the past seven years.

The two principals of the institutionsd have signed a memorandum of understanding that provides for detailed negotiations to create a joint venture company based in Singapore.

Universities across the UK are increasingly looking to boost their funds by bringing in overseas students, developing distance learning courses or, as in this case, setting up distinct overseas campuses. Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh recently opened a campus in Dubai.

The new development with EASB, one of Singapore's premier private higher education organisations, will enable increased numbers of students from Asia and further afield to study in Singapore and gain a degree from QMU.

The partners currently offer programmes in hospitality and tourism management; business management; and events management.

Future plans for the QMU Asia campus include the development of courses in banking and finance.

Professor Anthony Cohen, principal of QMU, said: "This is an enormously exciting and innovative project based on a sound record of collaboration which has succeeded over seven years because both partners are absolutely committed to the quality of our educational provision.

"It gives us both the confidence to extend our partnership for the great benefit of Singaporean and regional students and of the businesses for which they will eventually work."

Andrew Chua, the founder and principal of EASB, added: "This combination of QMU's academic excellence and international reputation with EASB's strength and experience in delivering career-ready graduates for the Asia Pacific region will open up huge new opportunities for students from Singapore and, further afield, from China, India and Vietnam.

"One of its key features will be the bilingual curriculum. In the new era of globalisation and the diversity and complexity of the global business market, we are confident that the graduates of these courses will have maximised their competitive advantage for securing the highest-quality employment and marketplace competency."