Dr Mohammed Azman says workforce resilience is crucial in the post-pandemic world. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
The International Public Employment Forum 2023 (IPEF 2023) organised by Social Security Organisation (Socso) is set to address key challenges in the labour and public employment sector, while offering innovative solutions and best practices.
The three-day event is slated for Oct 11 to 13 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
It will bring together industry experts, stakeholders and government officials to explore key topics.
Among them are the creation of new job opportunities, workforce upskilling and improving the quality of workers.
Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said participants of the second edition of the forum could expect to gain valuable insights on workforce development, policy implementation and skills enhancement.
Themed “Building a Resilient Workforce: The Madani Approach”, the forum will also focus on initiatives related to skill development training.
“This includes looking at ways to reskill, upskill and even cross-skilling of talents.
“This is to align with the government’s goals of promoting sustainable employment, economic growth and workforce development which are key priorities for our nation to progress,” he added.
Dr Mohammed Azman said the objectives behind IPEF 2023 was to facilitate knowledge exchange as well as promote employment, collaboration and innovation in addressing labour market challenges.
He added that some of the primary challenges faced by organisations in building a strong workforce were skill gaps, rapid technological change, dependency on foreign workers and having to adapt to work remotely.
“The forum will discuss these challenges and propose strategies to address them.
“The expected outcome of IPEF 2023 includes the identification of best practices in countries such as Belgium, Turkiye, Japan and South Korea.
“These ideas can lead to new policies to enhance public employment opportunities and workforce resilience.”
He said expert-led discussions, case studies and interactive sessions would be conducted to examine successful operational approaches adopted by organisations.
“Workforce resilience is crucial in this post-pandemic world and IPEF 2023 will explore the correlation between resilience and business success through these discussions.”
The event will feature key speakers who are in labour market economics, public policy and workforce development such as Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, World Bank Malaysia senior economist Dr Matthew Dornan and national bowling legend Datuk Shalin Zulkifli.
“They will bring their wealth of experience to foster meaningful discussions and provide workable strategies toward strengthening technical and vocational training and eduction (TVET), adapting to ESG (environmental, social & governance value), empowering marginalised groups in the workforce and expanding the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups,” Dr Mohammed Azman added.
Some 1,000 participants are expected at IPEF 2023 from countries such as Belgium, South Korea, Norway, Indonesia, India, Turkiye and Germany.
There will also be visitors from government agencies, international organisations like International Social Security Association (ISSA), research institutions and the private sector.
Collaborating with international groups like ISSA and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) would allow access to expertise and resources in meeting labour market challenges, Dr Mohammed Azman added.
“Also as president of ISSA, I wish to see through these collaborations to align our strategies with global best practices and contribute to efforts in addressing labour market issues.”
He also said that Socso had its own job portal (MyFutureJob) which had provided job placements to many applicants.
Those participating in the forum are entitled for HRDC financial grant and can register via https://ipef2023.perkeso.gov.my/
