The Sabah state government will continue to intensify its efforts to further support the achievement and excellence of human capital development which is one of the main focus areas in the state halatuju (direction), says Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.

Speaking at the opening of the fourth International Psycholinguistic Seminar, Musa said the programme was also a platform for empowering human capital development by enhancing scientific research as well as upgrading research findings on language and thinking skills to contribute towards a higher civilization.

"The convergence through this seminar will certainly create a strong spirit of cooperation in sharing ideas, theories and models in the psycho-linguistic field, which in turn is translated for us to intensify efforts of building a developed and integrated society.

"The state government is of the view that it (the seminar) is very relevant and significant to Malaysians, especially to Sabahans, which is synonymous with the harmony and unity of its multiracial, ethnic, religious and cultural people.

"Language plays the most fundamental role and requires a robust mechanism to ensure the formation of an excellent nation," he said in a speech text read by Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun here today.

The two-day seminar organised by the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia in collaboration with the Malaysian Psycholinguistics Association and the Institute of Teacher Education Gaya campus is a platform for educators, researchers and communities to mobilise ideas in advancing the nation through knowledge in psycholinguistics.

Approximately 250 participants attended the Seminar on 'Language Diversity and Thought in Society', which featured a total of 151 speakers including from Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

Musa believed that the seminar not only contributes to the development of knowledge using psychological and linguistic approaches, but also seeks to uphold the language as the best way to integrate diversity towards strengthening unity and racial harmony.

"We must strive to strengthen knowledge for the progress of society in various fields to enable us to be competitive and to achieve developed nation status by 2050," he said. - BERNAMA