KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 10 resolutions proposed by the Perdana Fellows Alumni Association, including the establishment of a National Youth Innovation Fund, aimed at producing more youth entrepreneurs in the green economy and digital economy sectors, will be presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for scrutiny.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said this after chairing the association’s closed-door roundtable discussion on Friday (Oct 4), in conjunction with the Oct 26 Youth Economic Forum 2024 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec).
Zambry said what was presented on Friday were proposals towards further improving talent, education and the existing system and, thus, enhancing the country’s economic standing.
"This is my engagement with a group of young people with expertise in their respective fields, whereby they were previously participants in the Perdana Fellows programme organised by the government and most of them are now employed in various sectors.
"Today, we received 10 proposals from them and I told them I will forward them to the Prime Minister. We will review those related to the Higher Education Ministry and implement the good suggestions. What they presented just now were several proposals towards improving many areas related to talent, education and the current system,” he told Bernama.
He added that several proposals needed to be refined to determine how they could be implemented since certain ideas already have existing mechanisms, but they may be improved and given added value based on the suggestions submitted.
"This group will hold a large-scale programme involving discussions related to youth economics, which is a prestigious programme, and the Higher Education Ministry is ready to cooperate in organising this programme.
"We welcome their views as they are the younger generation who have personally experienced the environment and issues they faced as well as the measures required to improve them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perdana Fellows Alumni Association president Syed Mohamed Arif said it is collaborating with various youth bodies and research institutions, such as the National Students Consultative Council and Khazanah Research Institute, to conduct surveys on policy changes needed involving students from secondary school to young professionals in the workforce.
"So, one of the key resolutions we want to bring to the government is the setting up of a Youth Innovation Fund to produce more Unicorns (startup companies valued at over US$1bil) and to create more modern entrepreneurs.
"We also intend to revamp the industrial training programme and strengthen the joint pilot programme with major tech companies that have expressed interest in investing here, such as Amazon Web Services and Oracle,” he said.
He hopes that this will serve as an initiative to ensure that ideas and initiatives from youth for youth are not forgotten and receive attention from the Malaysian government.
Apart from the setting up of the National Youth Innovation Fund, other resolutions outlined by the Perdana Fellows Alumni Association are the creation of a mandatory National Service Programme focusing on soft skills, problem-solving and communication as well as the establishment of a National Career Counselling platform.
For more information on the Youth Economic Forum 2024 at MITEC, visit www.yef2024.com. - Bernama
