Rundi (second left) presents a certificate to Mohammad Syafie Aluai who also won the Entrepreneurship Award as Nawawi (left) and a representative from Bintulu Emergency & Safety Training Sdn Bhd who sponsored the award look on.
BINTULU: The new generation of workforce must be skilful and be able to think like entrepreneurs to be more competitive globally.
Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said skills are important for one to succeed in future workforce but it is not enough to face the challenges in the future.
“We must train more youths not only to work but to become skilful entrepreneurs,” said the Kemena assemblyman at a press conference after officiating at the 4th convocation ceremony of Mara Skills Institute (IKM) Bintulu at Dewan Perdana Sri Kenyalang yesterday.
Rundi said he was informed by Mara and IKM Bintulu that to meet the needs of the local industry players, the training syllabus in IKM Bintulu has been modified.
“The marketability of graduates has been looked into, especially in the oil and gas sector in Miri, Bintulu and other places,” he said.
“We look at gas as an important aspect in our effort to increase revenue. We have new technology to generate power from hydrogen.We have plenty of water, big dams, enough rainfall, so water is not a problem,” Rundi said.
The Utilities Minister said he had been thinking of ways to speed up the Sarawak water grid to cater for the heavy industries but also in efforts to industrialise agriculture, especially when technology is used for e-commerce and modern agriculture.These require skilled workforce.
He said the Chief Minister’s direction on e-economy was clear and the people must be equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge and most importantly to utilise it to generate more income.
He thanked the federal government for setting up IKM in Bintulu which has been a place for energy intensive industries.
Mara Skills and Technical Division director Mahzan Teh and IKM Bintulu director Dr Mohd Nawawi Omar were among those present.