Kuala Lumpur: The country needs to address the challenges faced in developing the right human workforce, particularly the engineering profession as it moves towards the successful execution of the government’s economic plans, namely the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 and the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS).
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said without the right human capital and the right talent management of human capital, it is difficult for the country to realise its dreams and aspiration to become an industrialised nation.
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He said that given the geopolitical environment today, Malaysia is at a sweet spot where industries are converging, and companies are realigning and redefining their supply chain.
“Malaysia is involved with 16 free trade agreements (FTAs), both bilaterally and multilaterally. And in those FTAs, talent is the focus because we want the economic spillover effects to benefit the local communities,” he said in a panel session titled ‘Strategic Integration of Trade, Talent Management and Industry Policies: Fuelling Economic Growth Through Human Capital Development’ for ‘The Ministers Leading From the Front: Creating A Talent-Driven Economy - Government Policies and Practices’ programme here.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul told the media that the government plans to be ‘agile’ and dynamic and to use the ‘whole of government approach’ which involves all the ministries involved in engagement sessions with industry.
“With this approach, I am optimistic that the country will be able to speed up efforts to train and produce the necessary engineers,” he said.
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Although Malaysia is not producing that many (engineers), Tengku Zafrul said there have been improvements in the (number of) enrolments according to the Higher Education Ministry.
“At least it is moving in the right direction. There is no quick fix for this,” said Tengku Zafrul.
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He said it is important to destigmatise the traditional and conventional view on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) especially to parents, families and guardians, and stressed that TVET is equally important and not secondary to the academic track.
“However, I think this is slowly changing. Even when looking at developed countries, TVET is a crucial stream towards industrialisation, for example in Germany and many other countries.
“We must ‘widen the talent funnel’, which must begin at primary school. We need to build a robust pipeline of future-ready industrial workforce primed for embracing innovation in key technologies,” he said.
In the next five to 10 years, Malaysia is targeting 60,000 skilled technology/engineering based talents to attract high-quality investments that creates higher-paying jobs.
Meanwhile, the NTW has surpassed its target by achieving to enrol about 330,000 Malaysians in 65,000 free training courses as of Thursday, the fourth day of the programme.
In disclosing this, Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said the ministry was initially targeting 200,000 participants in 25,000 courses.
“This proves that Malaysians crave skills training and that the training programmes we offer are able to attract the public,” he told the media here last night.
He was speaking after participating in a panel session titled “Strategic Integration of Trade, Talent Management and Industry Policies: Fuelling Economic Growth Through Human Capital Development” for The Ministers Leading From the Front: Creating A Talent-Driven Economy - Government Policies and Practices programme.
NTW 2024, which started on June 24, will run until Sunday, June 30.
During the panel session, Sim said the Human Resources Ministry, together with 12 other ministries with a stake in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET), will redouble efforts to create a suitably skilled and adequate workforce in order to achieve the national economic policies.
He said this is aimed at addressing the nation’s challenges due to shortage of high-skilled labour such as engineers at a time when the country is set to be a hub for both foreign and local investors to expand their operations in the high technology field.
On a related development, Sim said the National Wages Consultative Technical Committee has completed its review of the Minimum Wages Order 2022, and it would be presented to the Cabinet soon.
The government last reviewed the minimum wage in May 2022, increasing the minimum monthly wage from RM1,200 to RM1,500.
The review was made in accordance with the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011 (Act 732), which mandates the National Wages Consultative Council to review the minimum wages order at least once every two years.