KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz today expressed hope that German technical and vocational education and training (TVET) will be intensified to address labour shortage in the semiconductor sector.
He said the government will provide RM25 billion to implement the National Semiconductor Strategy.
This includes a RM1.2 billion allocation to train and upskill 60,000 Malaysian engineers to tackle the talent shortage in the sector.
“Apart from the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry’s joint efforts with the Human Resources and Higher Education Ministries, we welcome the Malaysia-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (MGCC) tireless efforts in coordinating German TVET, or German Dual Vocational Training.
“Given the hundreds of German companies in Malaysia, I hope this highly regarded programme can be intensified to continue upskilling the next generation of Malaysian workers within your organisations, particularly in the semiconductor industry,” he said at the MGCC annual general meeting today.
Also present were German Ambassador to Malaysia Peter Blomeyer, MGCC executive director Jan Noether, MGCC president Tim Groth, and MGCC vice-president Geetha Kandiah.
Tengku Zafrul also proposed a Malaysia-Germany partnership in digitalisation.
“One exciting area is digitalising the halal ecosystem and halal economy. Although Malaysia has made significant strides and built its leadership in the halal industry, there is much more we can do beyond innovating the next award-winning sukuk model,” he said.
He said while German companies that are strong in digitalisation can support Malaysia in using technologies such as blockchain to secure the integrity of the halal supply chain, Malaysia can offer its expertise, infrastructure, and robust halal regulatory framework to serve the global halal market, which is estimated to reach US$5 trillion (RM23.6 trillion) by 2030.
He said the European Union-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is still under consideration, adding: “We are looking at the terms.”
Malaysia has ratified and implemented two of the world’s largest regional FTAs — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“Both present expanded prospects not only for our key trading partners under the agreements, but also for foreign investors, including German companies, in Malaysia,” he said, adding that being part of these trade pacts allows Malaysia to explore new levels of trade cooperation.
In addition to several FTAs in the pipeline to be concluded this year, he said: “Malaysia is always ready to collaborate with Germany on high-quality projects that will mutually benefit both our countries and industries.”
— Bernama
