CYBERJAYA: Colleges, universities and industry players must step up efforts and collaborate to churn out more graduates in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said it was imperative for the establishments to step up their efforts to ensure that they do not lag behind churning out quality human capital among Malaysians.
He said the sector has to be mindful of the changing landscape as new emphasis are being put in by neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia that aim to produce up to 40,000 ICT graduates per year.
Muhyiddin said: "Malaysia's annual target for ICT graduates is only 8,000 and to this end, it will be imperative for Malaysia to step up efforts to ensure it does not lag behind in churning out necessary human capital among Malaysians."
He added that there are approximately 10,000 job opportunities being identified over the span of three years in Cyberjaya and graduates trained under the Cyberjaya Graduate Employability Enabler 2 (CGEE 2014) stands to be employed in those companies.
Muhyiddin said the talent development programme seeks to empower, train, and prepares local graduates with the right skills set in making them employable with high impact companies in Cyberjaya.
He said in his speech the programme would also serve to further build the nation's human capital through the development and enhancement of their language, as well as management and technical skills.
Muhyiddin said: "This is in alignment with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 which aspires to produce graduates that are not just sought after by the industry, but also sufficiently skilled with a mindset to become leaders in their respective fields."
He further added that the programme would train and develop our local talents into knowledge workers for Cyberjaya and also the industry, especially in the ICT sector.
Muhyiddin had also launched the CGEE 2014 programme which is spearheaded and initiated by Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd and also present was Emkay Group chairman Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal.