PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed his intention to put an end to billions of ringgit allocated to consultant agencies.
Instead, he emphasised a commitment to invest in local talent development, with plans to send civil servants for specialised overseas courses.
In his speech tonight, Anwar said this was a plan the government was looking at to empower the country's civil service, particularly in the realms of digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and energy transition.
"I can assure that the allocation for this will not be a barrier because our spending to hire consultants every year has reached billions of ringgit.
"So there is no reason why we cannot give a big allocation to identify talents in all sectors, to ensure that we have the level of ability (to fulfil the market's need)," he said after presenting the Public Sector Innovation Excellence Awards.
Furthermore, he has requested Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Zulkapli Mohamed to expedite the implementation of new training for civil servants while bypassing bureaucratic procedures to accelerate this goal.
Anwar also said that he wanted the Department of Public Service (JPA) to start as early as next year, sending as many civil servants as possible to participate in these training and courses, as it is an urgent requirement.
"It's not just about study tours; I don't believe in that. A one or two-week study tour is better suited for a vacation. If we're serious, there might be programs lasting six months to a year.
"A period of six months to a year is adequate for civil servants to thoroughly research and explore new fields and then bring back ideas for implementation in our country.
"This is the maximum effort I can make to demonstrate our confidence in the capabilities of civil servants so that changes can be brought to the civil service," he said.