MALAYSIA:::Education still the focus

THE Malaysian government's focus on education is seen as an investment to produce students with knowledge and skills.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that the national education system has produced intellectuals in almost all fields.

The country has made great strides to become an almost developed nation and has produced many professionals including doctor and engineers, he said when meeting the Malaysian community, during a working visit to Tokyo, Japan, last week.

Muhyiddin who is also Education Minister, was in the country for the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to chart specific directions to deal with the rising severity of destruction.

He said the blueprint (Malaysia Education Blueprint) was developed for Malaysian children who were the nation’s “assets”.

Malaysia’s future was in their hands as they would be charting its progress and development, he added.

Muhyiddin said what was important was the final goal — to produce human capital that will contribute to the nation’s growth while taking into account sustainable development as well.

“There are about a million Malaysian Diaspora overseas. They are professionals ... experts and specialists in their respective fields. Although Malaysia is a developing country, education is always its priority," Muhyiddin said.

Malaysia, however still needed professionals who are based overseas to come home after completing their term of contract or studies.

“To overcome the shortage of professionals and technical experts in the country and towards creating a world-class workforce in Malaysia, particularly in the context of driving the Economic Transformation Programme, Talent Corp has been formed, “ he said.

It would look into addressing talent requirements of the nation, he added.

Muhyiddin said that while many countries had faced an economic downturn, Malaysia had still registered an economic growth of more than six percent last year.

He said that it was one of the reasons why the country had to import unskilled workers, he said.

The country needed more than two million foreign workers to cater to the demands in various sectors, he said.

Malaysia offers employment for not only its own people but also foreigners.

Muhyiddin said the government had always taken steps to to make sure that the country still attracted foreign investment, with last year's total foreign investment reaching RM216 bil.

Malaysia also enjoys a good ranking internationally.

An American publication has regarded our healthcare system as among the world’s best and the country has moved up from 12th to sixth spot in the World Bank’s 2014 Ease of Doing Business. – Bernama

source:::http://www.thestar.com.my

Nice to meet you: Malaysians residing in Japan turned up to greet Muhyiddin (third from right, foreground) at the gathering in Tokyo