KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is more than capable of being a skills training leader in the region, says the Human Resources Ministry.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said Malaysia had an advanced industries ecosystem and was also one of the earliest industrialized countries in the region.
"More than half a century ago, multiple companies such as Intel, Hewlett Packard and Hitachi came here and they are world-class corporations.
"Today, we have Infineon, Tesla, Geely, Amazon and even our home-grown Fortune 500, PETRONAS.
"We have world-class corporations, world-class skills and experience, and our workers are looking for world-class corporations.
"Therefore, there is no reason why we can’t have world-class skills training in this country," he said in his speech at the National Training Week (NTW) 2024 soft launch here on Wednesday (Jan 24).
Sim said NTW 2024 also targeted at least 150,000 enrolments.
He said it would also not be on quantities alone, but also quality.
"Or else it will be just a waste," he said.
At a press conference later, Sim said NTW 2024 aimed to launch Malaysia as an international-level skills training provider.
"This target is not something impossible for our training centres to be world-class.
"Our goal is to make Malaysia an international training hub, where those from other countries can also come to Malaysia for training," he said.
He added that the ministry had targeted some 150,000 enrolments for NTW 2024, offering more than 25,000 courses.
"The courses also include those in the digital sector. The courses are also open to participation from civil servants," Sim said.
He said the cumulative sum of training courses during NTW 2024 came up to RM200mil.
"This will be fully paid for by industry players, not the government or Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp).
"Definitely, it will benefit Malaysians at all layers," Sim said.
The inaugural NTW last year saw more than 21,000 free training courses provided to more than 129,000 Malaysians.
Earlier during the soft launch, HRD Corp chief executive officer Datuk Shahul Hameed Dawood said the NTW 2024 will be streamlined to skills most essential to Malaysians, including creativity and innovation, financial skills and sustainable development.
"While we are pleased with what we accomplished in NTW 2023 together, we are not going to rest on our laurels.
"If anything, we are committed to bringing an even bigger and better NTW in 2024," he added.
