KUALA LUMPUR: Cooperation between Malaysia and other Asean countries is crucial to attract, develop, and sustain the flow of highly skilled and dynamic talents, says Steven Sim.
Speaking at the Asean Skills Forum (ASF) on Thursday (Oct 3), the Human Resources Minister noted that since the mid-20th century, Malaysia has attracted investments from global high technology industries such as Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Keysight Technologies, Agilent Technologies, and Hitachi.
"Today, Malaysia hosts global tech players like Nvidia, Micron, Infineon, Geely, Rongsheng, Microsoft, Google, Bytedance, and AWS, with over RM30bil in investments," he said, according to a Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) statement.
Sim also announced significant improvements to the Allowable Cost Matrix (ACM) to establish a foundation for local skills development.
During the ASF, discussions were held on coordinating skill development strategies in preparation for Malaysia's chairmanship of Asean in 2025. A proposal for Asean Year of Skills 2025 (AYOS 2025) was also introduced.
HRD Corp chief executive Datuk Shahul Dawood outlined that AYOS 2025 aims to tackle future challenges by supporting sustainable growth and competitiveness.
This initiative seeks to reduce the skills gap and ensure the Asean workforce meets industry needs through targeted training programmes and continuous skill enhancement.
"AYOS 2025 will facilitate regional talent exchange, enabling skilled professionals to move across Asean countries, share information, address local skill shortages, and boost innovation and cooperation," Shahul Dawood explained. – Bernama
