Citing incoming FDI, PM Anwar pledges additional funds to train local talents
04 Apr 2023
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that the government would have no problem providing additional allocations to polish local talents to be part of the beneficiaries ahead of the incoming foreign direct investments (FDI).
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said that the move is necessary to ensure that the country is fully prepared and make full use of the local manpower before foreign companies decide to import talent from overseas.
“So we have to identify this programme, that’s why the Finance Ministry should help coordinate to see what is lacking and if necessary, provide additional special allocations for intensive training.
“Otherwise, when they come in [starting] the end of this year or next year to hire, they would have to hire from abroad [instead],” he said in his speech during the Finance Ministry’s monthly staff assembly.
He added that the government is considering taking necessary measures to address concerns about the lack of highly skilled labour among the local talents to accommodate with those foreign companies’ needs.
Anwar also said that the domino effect of the government’s newly agreed FDIs would attract neighbouring countries like Singapore to invest in the country’s economy.
“And if we just wait for investment, we don’t prepare skills, jobs, infrastructure… it will be a problem.
Recently, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz said that Malaysia attracted RM170 billion of potential FDI from China and could have RM2.44 billion in potential exports to China.
It said this was generated by its trade and investment mission to China over the past few days, which involved visits to Beijing and Ningbo City.
Earlier this month, Tengku Zafrul said that the proposed investments by two industry giants, Tesla and Amazon Web Services (AWS), will bring positive economic spillover to the country and create high-quality job opportunities.
Source: Malay Mail
