KUALA LUMPUR: The Higher Education Ministry and the Securities Commission (SC) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop the Capital Market Graduate Programme (CMGP) to raise the marketability of graduates in the capital market.
SC chairman Datuk Seri Awang Adek Hussin said the programme, which fosters cooperation and collaboration between capital market institutions and universities, will help produce graduates who are more readily absorbed into the capital market.
This will reduce the shortfall in skilled manpower in the capital market, while at the same time, improve the employability of graduates, he said.
"There are many graduates looking for jobs, while at the same time there is a severe shortage of skilled workers in the market. It is as though there is a 'supply and demand mismatch'.
"It is, therefore, hoped that the CMGP can also be used as a mediator or 'matchmaker' between graduates and the capital market," he said in his welcome speech at the CMGP MoU signing ceremony witnessed by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin here today.
Awang Adek said that as a former economics university lecturer, who is now holding the post of chairman at Universiti Sains Malaysia, he is well aware that knowledge about the capital market is very limited among students and lecturers.
Therefore, in order to create interest and awareness about the capital market among university students, the SC feels it is necessary to create a structured, planned and consistent programme for several years to enable graduates to get employment in the capital market, he said.
Awang Adek said the CMGP will be provided for a period of three years with an allocation of RM30 million from the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF), a fund managed by the capital market industry itself.
He said the CMGP aims to raise the knowledge and marketability of 9,000 public and private university graduates, especially for the capital market industry.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to launch CMGP in the near future, he added. - Bernama
