JOHOR BARU: Malaysia must grow its talent pool in new fields including artificial intelligence, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic).
He said he was impressed during his visit to Abu Dhabi to find that a university there was already teaching about AI.
"They were able to do it within a short period.
"After I came back I decided to pursue this with the Higher Education Ministry and usually, it will take one or two years to start a new faculty.
"However, it has now been done within four months by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Johor," he said in his speech during the Invest Malaysia event here on Thursday (Sept 26).
He said there was also a need to partner with the private sector to develop talent, one of the concerns raised during his discussions with global players.
"We lack a niche at the highest level. so it is important for us to produce graduates who fulfil (these players') requirements," he added.
He also touched on the importance of tapping the Asean market for investments as the region had a huge population of 680 milliion and combined GDP of US$3.5 trillion (RM14.7 trillion).
On neighbouring Singapore, he said both countries would continue to collaborate to achieve a win-win situation.
"Yes, we have our minor differences, but we are still excited to work with them," he said.
