KUALA LUMPUR: It is crucial for the financial services sector to constantly improve the quality of its workforce and ensure an adequate supply of qualified human capital as Malaysia moves to become a high-income nation by 2020.
Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP) head, Lee Khee Joo, said human capital was an essential enabler for the financial services sector as the industry required highly-qualified people to continue innovating and raising standards.
“As Malaysia moves to become a high-income economy, the increasing affluence of its population will fuel demand for new and higher value financial activities.
“There are ample opportunities for Malaysia in the financial services sector, but at the same time it also needs to overcome some key challenges, including the acute shortage of industry talents,” he told Bernama in an interview.
Lee said the establishment of FSTEP in 2007 was a step in the right direction to help nurture talents for the industry.
FSTEP, a brainchild of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, was an industry-driven programme managed by Institut Bank-Bank Malaysia in collaboration with BNM.
FSTEP trained and prepared high calibre graduates for employment in the finance sector under its one-year programme.
He said Malaysia did not lack talent; what it lacked was experience.
“Therefore, it is vital for FSTEP to cultivate talent in the face of competition among financial institutions to get the best staff with the liberalisation of the banking sector and the entry of foreign banks into the country,” he said.
Lee said the industry would face challenges in overcoming the talent shortage, specifically in the Islamic finance sector, as Malaysia became an international syariah-compliant finance hub.
Furthermore, he said, Malaysian financial institutions would also benefit from growing business relationships between Malaysia and China as well as India.
“As the Chinese and Indian businesses and customers prosper, demand for onshore and offshore financial services will provide additional expansion opportunities for financial institutions,” he said.
He said the Malaysian financial landscape was sound, competitive and diversified.
“To support its dynamic growth, the financial industry players are constantly recruiting and training new employees,” he said.
Lee said FSTEP’s noble objective was to enrich the talents of graduates to excel in their pursuit of a career in the financial services industry.
“In other words, we give the participants the right opportunities to unleash their potentials,” he said.
He said in its efforts to provide well-trained professionals beyond classroom scenario, FSTEP’s training involved enhancing the proficiency in English language, personal development programme in inculcating good ethics and values, Outward Bound activities as well as engaging in community and corporate social responsibility projects.
According to Lee, FSTEP had so far trained 782 Malaysian graduates of local and foreign universities, of which 60 per cent of them had since joined the financial services industry.
“Over the years, we have continuously fine-tuned our training programme to enhance its quality,” he said. Currently, FSTEP is conducting the Batch 6 training programme with 110 participants who are fully sponsored by the various financial institutions.
Lee said due to rising awareness and overwhelming response, FSTEP planned to enrol 120 participants for Batch 7, which would commence on Sept 20, 2011. — Bernama