KUALA LUMPUR: While upskilling the workforce is crucial to face a digital era, it is also important to ensure that there are enough quality jobs in industries, says Khazanah Research head Nick Khaw.
He said Asean countries managed to grow their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and their banks performed well because of healthy debt consumption that is backed by strong middle class jobs.
“If you upskill but you don’t have jobs created accordingly, these workers will go somewhere else. So we have to think more than just upskilling.
“If we fail to do that (create quality jobs), upskilling is meaningless,” said Khaw during a panel discussion on “Asean as a Middle-Class Society: Building a Sustainable Asean”.
Khaw was speaking at the Asean Economic Opinions Leaders Conference: Outlook for 2025.
KRA group director of strategy Amir Fareed, who was moderating the session, asked Khaw the role digitalisation plays in sustaining the middle class society.
In response, Khaw said digitalisation is a tool but not a “magic bullet” to solve problems.
Boston Consulting Group managing director and partner Nurlin Salleh said continuous upskilling is crucial in order to keep up with the pace of change in the world.
“Otherwise, there will be a lot of challenges,” she said.
She said digitalisation efforts among Asean nations will enable greater changes in the region.
“Don’t digitalise for the sake of digitalisation. It must have clear economic benefits,” she added.
Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry’s Asean Economic Integration division senior director Dr Sugumari S. Shanmugam said it is crucial for Asean countries to understand the importance of digitalisation.
“But I think we are moving there and hopefully, under Malaysian leadership this year, we can push for the digital framework,” said Sugumari.
