Malaysia targets 500,000 jobs opportunities by year-end with MOF and MOHR's help: PM Ismail

The government aims to hit that target through a National Job Creation Strategic Plan, which will be supported by five specialised taskforces under the National Employment Council. Further, Minister Zafrul and Minister Azmin have provided updates on GKP 4.0 and the FDI sector.

According to Malaysia's National Employment Council (NEC, or Majlis Pekerjaan Negara), more than 376,000 job seekers have managed to get jobs through 27 initiatives implemented by the government as of 10 September 2021. This information was shared with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri on 22 September (Wednesday).

The PM then revealed, on 23 September 2021 (Thursday), that the rate of successful job placements exceeded the government's target set for the first nine months of this year, which is 354,276 job opportunities until 30 September 2021.

PM Ismail added: "The government has also managed to create more than 97,000 new jobs through domestic investment with 76% of them being in the skilled and semi-skilled categories. The number is part of a target of 160,000 new jobs resulting from investment commitments for 2021."

With these numbers, he is optimistic that the goal to create 500,000 job opportunities for this year will be achieved.

To that end, he highlighted the government will implement a National Job Creation Strategic Plan (NJCSP, or Pelan Strategik Penciptaan Pekerjaan Nasional), which will be supported by five specialised taskforces under the NEC. Job creation will be enhanced through six main approaches, namely:

1. Enhancing collaboration between industry and academia;
2. Nurturing talent to meet the needs of the industry;
3. Empowering local entrepreneurs to thrive in the current economy;
4. Leveraging the gig economy for the search for income generation opportunities;
5. Driving the growth of new and modern sectors, and
6. Accelerating the adoption of modern workplace practices.

"The six cores will be a guide for the implementation of six game changers, including applying artificial intelligence technology for the purpose of matching and career planning as well as improving the marketability and quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates," the Prime Minister explained.

Other aspects of NJCSP's proposals include the creation of a dedicated platform for the coordination of information of all TVET institutions in Malaysia, as well as the programmes and opportunities offered to match prospects with suitable TVET institutions to facilitate their future employment searches—which is a project that will be spearheaded by the Ministry of Finance, as well as the Ministry of Human Resources.

The Prime Minister also urged those who have lost their jobs to look at Employment Insurance System (Sistem lnsurans Pekerjaan, or SIP) for assistance, and MyFutureJobs portal for employment.

Other ministerial updates

GKP 4.0

In Malaysia's latest parliamentary sitting on 23 September (Thursday), Minister for Finance, Tengku Zafrul shared an update on Geran Khas Prihatin (GKP) 4.0, announcing that more than 1mn micro-SMEs (PKS-micro) involving existing recipients and new recipients of GKP assistance, have begun to receive a Phase One of RM500 fee on 21 September 2021.

"The next phase of RM500 fee will be released on November 2021," Minister Zafrul shared.
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He further explained that with GKP, RM6.08bn "has been and will be benefited by over 1mn micro-entrepreneurs" through four GKP payments since COVID-19 outbreak struck the country. "In short, the Government continues to commit to supporting business sector specifically micro entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (PKS) through Special Concern Grants (GKP). These are meant to ease their financial burden during these challenging times, the Minister added.

FDI sector

Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry, Azmin Ali, also noted in Parliament that Malaysia's Foreign Domestic Investment (FDI) landscape "remains challenging and competitive". Minister Azmin, however, revealed that between January to June 2021, a total of RM107.5bn investment in the manufacturing, services, and key sectors was recorded, involving 2,110 projects that are expected to generate 44,994 jobs.

"The government will continue to take aggressive and sustained action, not just to control the decline but to work to sharpen the country's foreign investment," he stated.

ALSO READ: Payment under Malaysia's Special Caring Grant (GKP 4.0) to begin on 21 September

Image / PM Ismail Sabri's Facebook

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