KUALA LUMPUR – Over 160,000 new job opportunities are estimated to be created this year through committed investment, the result of close coordination between the government and industries.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in a statement today, said the government always welcomes offers from Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the SME Association of Malaysia to work together to overcome the unemployment rate through initiatives under the 2021 Budget, especially when it involves skills upgrading and digitalisation.
This was conveyed during the second National Employment Council (NEC) meeting held virtually and chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Among those who joined the virtual meeting were Petronas chairman cum Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) pro-chancellor Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh, Khazanah Nasional managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, Sime Darby chief executive officer Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson and Malaysian Employers Federation president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman.
In the meeting, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) provided a situation report on the country’s employment ecosystem, while the Economic Stimulus Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (LAKSANA) presented the progress status of programmes initiated by the NEC.
In addition, the Special Task Force (STF) also submitted strategies to overcome the issue of unemployment and job mismatch so as to achieve three main objectives, namely matching human capital based on industry demand, increasing highly skilled employment opportunities and strengthening cooperation between the academic sector and industry.
“Although the country is still under the Movement Control Order (MCO), the government is optimistic that targets set can be achieved as the strategies are also designed to take into account MCO compliance and new norms.
“Among them are 200 webinar sessions as well as 180 online interview sessions with various promotions conducted to ensure the people obtain information and take advantage of the opportunities offered,” the statement read.
Towards this end, the STF will also be cooperating with non-governmental organisations to ensure each implementation remains inclusive, the statement said.
According to the statement, Malaysians who have been impacted or are seeking employment can register on the MyFutureJobs portal, https://www.myfuturejobs.gov.my/, a stop centre that offers more than 200,000 job opportunities.
It offers information and access to employment-related initiatives, including skills improvement and retraining, advisory services and also the latest employment-related programmes.
Individuals appointed to special committee
The PMO in another development, have stated that nineteen individuals have been appointed to the Independent Special Committee on Emergency 2021 with immediate effect.
The appointment has received the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
The 19 individuals are former Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria as the chairman, former Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai, former Chief of Defence Force Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, former Health director-general Prof Tan Sri Dr Mohamad Taha Arif, and prominent cardiothoracic surgeon Tan Sri Dr Yahya Awang.
Also appointed were President of National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia Tan Sri Ter Leong Yap, Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Cyberjaya Tan Sri Dr R. Palan, former deputy public prosecutor at Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) Datuk Sallehuddin Saidin, Mufti of Perlis Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, public health expert Prof Datu Dr Andrew Kiyu Dawi anak Usop and former Sabah State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman.
Seven Members of Parliament were also appointed namely Tan Sri Noh Omar (Tanjung Karang), Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim (Batang Lupar), Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun (Beaufort), Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (Pasir Puteh), Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (Kulim-Bandar Baharu), Anthony Loke Siew Fook (Seremban) and Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (Kuala Selangor).
The PMO said the committee, set up under Section 2 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021, serves to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the ongoing existence of major emergency in Malaysia and the end of it.
The National Security Council of the Prime Minister’s Department will serve as the secretariat of the committee.
