KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 144,376 jobs have been created in 2022 through various foreign and domestic direct investments, surpassing its initial target, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the government also achieved its target of providing 600,000 job placements, with a total of 600,984 individuals successfully obtaining employment and generating their own income in 2022.
"In terms of new job creation, a total of 144,376 jobs have been successfully created through foreign and domestic direct investments, facilitated by the
Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry, as well as the Economy Ministry through nine investment promotion agencies.
"This achievement represents that the job creation rate has reached 104%, which is higher than the targeted 138,342," he said in a statement after chairing the first National Employment Council (NEC) meeting in Parliament building here today (May 22).
The NEC, he said, also agreed on a target of creating 119,964 jobs through foreign and domestic direct investments for this year.
He also announced that the unemployment rate has gone down to 3.6%, which is lower than the target of 4% for the year 2022.
"These accomplishments are the result of the commitment and strong cooperation among
the ministries, implementing agencies, and industry representatives to ensure the effectiveness of each programme implemented," he said.
Fadillah said although the latest unemployment figures for the first quarter of this year were recorded at 3.5%, there are still various issues in the employment sector that need to be addressed.
"These issues include youth unemployment, supply-demand mismatch, ensuring appropriate wage rates, underemployment, dependence on foreign labour, and increasing productivity," he said.
The NEC, he added, will continue to focus on finding measures on three main components namely, job creation, training and upskilling programmes as well as addressing structural labour market issues.
He also said that the council has identified 49 job-related initiatives under the 2023 Budget, which will be implemented by 63 implementing agencies and will be monitored by an inter-agency economic stimulus implementation and coordinating unit (Laksana).
"Based on the commitment and unity demonstrated by all parties involved, the government is confident that the strategies outlined by the NEC will continue to boost the country's economy, improve job creation, and reduce the country's unemployment rate," said Fadillah.
