KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday stressed that Malaysia has a highly skilled, multicultural and multilingual workforce that gives the nation a distinctive edge in this region.
He said with a capable, diverse and globally aware talent base able to meet the needs of global investors, Malaysia in 2012 attracted RM162.4 billion in investments, the highest contributions to date and an impressive figure in spite of uncertain global economic condition.
“This is testament to our ability to adapt and support regional Asian markets and many Malaysian managers are helming global Multi National Companies’ (MNCs) operations in this part of the world,” he said when delivering a keynote address at a Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) forum entitled ‘Asian Era:Malaysian Perspective’ here, yesterday.
Muhyiddin said in order to ensure that this Malaysian education system grew in tandem with the competitive global economy, the Education Ministry recently released the nation’s Education Blueprint, a 12-year plan.
“With education being our number one priority, our national budget allocates RM100 million to enhance educational performance and skills training,” said Muhyiddin.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said up to today, there were 20 public and 21 private universities, and over 400 colleges, polytechnics and industrial training institutes in the country.
The deputy prime minister said complementing the government efforts, the private sector had set up a number of educational institutions that generated a larger pool of skilled professionals and semi-professionals.
“As an educational hub within the region, Malaysia not only draws international students but has attracted foreign universities to our shores opening branch campuses around the country,” he said.
Besides formal education options, Muhyiddin said public training institutions such as technical schools, industrial training institutes, polytechnics and skill development centres had sprouted to meet the ever growing requirements of the industrial sector.
Muhyiddin said through collaborative effort, several international advanced skills training institutes had been set up in this country such as the German-Malaysian Institute, Malaysia-France Institute, Japan-Malaysia Technical Institute, British-Malaysia Institute as well as Malaysian-Spanish Institute.
“In my recent overseas visits where I met with the captains of industry, I have also proposed for investors and foreign companies to set up strategic collaborations with Malaysia’s local universities,” Muhyiddin said.
He said the efforts indeed could be an effective way to map and match the pool of skill requirements of individual sectors critically needed by the foreign investors.
In another development, Muhyiddin said Malaysia could also contribute significantly to the continued prosperity of Asia.
He said Malaysia certainly saw itself as well positioned to be the conduit between Asia and the rest of the world, both in the economic and geopolitical arenas.
“At a time when it is aggressively pushing towards the status of a developed nation, Malaysia is fortunate to find itself strategically positioned in the fastest growing region in the world,” Muhyiddin said. — Bernama