TRAINING SKILLS TO UPLIFT THE ECONOMY

The Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan or Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (PENJANA) was announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on June 5. — NORAFIFI EHSAN/The Star

PENJANA HRDF Initiative is part of the Government’s overall PENJANA plan to help those adversely affected by the ongoing pandemic.

Driven by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), which is under the Human Resources Ministry, the initiative seeks to reskill those affected by economic downturn.

This is the second of a three-part series that focuses on the associations of training providers.

As a subset of PENJANA, the PENJANA HRDF Initiative’s allocated budget is RM250mil from the Government with a matching grant at RM250mil from HRDF.

The large range of economic sectors covered by the PENJANA HRDF Initiative is what makes it effective, according to the Malaysian Training Providers Association (MATPRO) president Dr Abdul Kabur Ibrahim.

“The initiative looks at the viewpoint of retail businesses, F&B to hi-tech industries and more, ” said Kabur.

“It also addresses different working levels of employment, from the B40 segment to the top 10, offering development programmes for basic-level employees up to directors and chief executive officers.

MATPRO president Dr Abdul Kabur Mohamed Ibrahim. — ONG SOON HIN/The Star

He added that doing so helps create more job opportunities - not only through placements in companies but also through self-employment - as some end up setting up their own businesses.

MATPRO was established in 2013 as the first association for training providers in Malaysia.

Although there were associations for trainers back then, there were none for training providers.

Unlike trainers, who work as freelancers, training providers coordinate with their clients to provide training resources and trainers, while ensuring the training is conducted well.

The association was set up to allow training providers to voice their views and concerns and coordinate activities of its participants.

He added, “It also controls the quality and standard of programmes being offered by our training providers and also promotes their programmes locally and overseas.”

Kabur pointed out that Malaysian training providers are more than capable in providing training for all sorts of skills.

“Not only can we cater to just the local market, but also internationally as well.

“The role of Malaysian training providers today has expanded. In the past, training providers have only provided training, ” he said, adding that they have become more active and have started multitasking by doing recruitment and placement under the PENJANA HRDF Initiative Place & Train Scheme.

Kabur noted that those who were trained to seek jobs in companies sometimes end up going a different route by becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

He said, “Such is the case for those in the B40 segment who set up their own businesses and conduct their own operations, similarly the GIG (Greak Insan Gemilang) group, who are the freelancers.”

As such, he said the initiative can benefit people in different ways, not only in getting the participants jobs, but also in helping them become self-employed.

He also said there has been less dependence on foreign workers.

“Thanks to training, there has been a replacement of general workers up to expatriates who draw very high salaries. So that is another contribution of the PENJANA HRDF Initiative, ” he said.

Kabur indicated that there are also courses targeting the mid-level and the top 10, with the example being a unique programme that was run by one of MATPRO’s trainers, which is the Certified Compliance Management System from the United States.

He explained that there are a lot of Malaysian exporters, especially those in gloves, furniture, textile, electronics industry, who are currently having problems exporting their products to Europe or the US due to the social compliance practised in those specific countries.

Exporters need to satisfy the compliance requirements for these countries before they can proceed exporting products there.

“This programme is the only one of its kind in Malaysia conducted by a member of MATPRO and I have to thank HRDF for giving us the opportunity to run this programme, ” he said, adding that these quality training courses help the industry and the country’s economy.

Another programme offered by another member is on export and international trade.

In the past, exporters would travel overseas to promote their products, but now they are confined due to the pandemic, without the ability to showcase their products to potential foreign clients.

To solve this, cross-border e-commerce and virtual trade missions and expositions were set up to circumvent travel restrictions.

“So this is another effort that is supported by HRDF and is a fantastic effort as it is inline with the country’s economic development, as Malaysia is the 24th largest trade-dependent country in the world, ” explained Kabur.

He added, “We have about 50,000 SME manufacturers in Malaysia, and out of that, only 20% are exporting. And when we did a survey on why that is the case, the ones who didn’t export complained that they cannot find the right talents in Malaysia. We don’t have export talents in this country.”

Kabur stated that talents who understand export are difficult to find as no university in Malaysia provides a course on that and it is an ability that the individual has to develop on his own.

However, some universities and training providers have already developed programmes for that skill, so HRDF’s support has proven timely for the export sector.