PUTRAJAYA: The Higher Education Ministry is making the Putrajaya Festival of Ideas (Putrajaya FOI) an annual event and aims to boost Putrajaya as the ‘City of Ideas’, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir.
“The Madani government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, remains steadfast in upholding the tradition of knowledge and the enlightenment of ideas.
“The Prime Minister has also expressed his willingness to make this a landmark programme for our country because the Putrajaya FOI is where forces can join, uniting all parties, not just from academic circles but people across Malaysia,” he said when met with reporters on Wednesday (Nov 27) at the opening of the three-day Putrajaya FOI event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) from today to Nov 29.
During his welcome speech, he also said that a platform called the ‘Bank of Ideas’ is going to be introduced during the festival for communities to share their views and thoughts on a prosperous Malaysia Madani.
“For now the 'Bank of Ideas' is available only at the Putrajaya FOI but in the future, we plan to develop a mechanism to operate it long-term. For now, it is just one of the attractions for the festival,” he said, adding that contributions from all segments of society are encouraged, and impactful ideas can come from anyone, not just academia.
“With the goal of nurturing a knowledgeable, ethical, and competitive society, a variety of programmes have been planned over the course of three days, catering to all segments of the community,” he said, adding that this will include job opportunities, with a target of 10,000 positions to be offered.
“Therefore, seize this opportunity, wherever you may be. Come in large numbers to the PICC,” he said.
The Putrajaya FOI is an initiative aimed at popularising ideas and higher education on a large scale, as well as promoting Malaysia as a regional and global centre for intellectual discourse and innovation.
More than 2,000 job opportunities are offered during the festival, which brings together experts, thinkers, leaders, academics, industries and the public to discuss and share innovative ideas and solutions to current challenges.
There will be five forums taking place over the course of three days, which will focus on the introduction of ideas, success stories of ideas and public service reform.
There will also be 10 parallel sessions covering topics related to the economy, education, international diplomacy, health, artificial intelligence (AI), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), digital transformation, food security, environmental sustainability and the Madani context.
