Only 28 per cent of 12 million work force in Malaysia are highly skilled

Only 28 per cent of the 12 million work force in Malaysia are highly skilled, said Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Ismail Abdul Mutalib.

As such, he said the Human Resource Ministry would cooperate actively with the Education Ministry and the private sector to achieve the target of 50 per cent of the work force comprising highly skilled workers by the year 2020.

"Registration for vocational courses would be increased from time to time to reach 300,000 places compared with only about 130,000 places currently," he told reporters after officiating the 2nd International Skills Conference 2013, here Monday.

Ismail said strategic cooperation with the private sector was also important in efforts to transfer technology and expertise from abroad to churn out skilled work force among the locals.

"We will increase forums at the international level such as the one today where the local delegates who were present had vast opportunities to exchange ideas with the developed nations such as Australia and the United Kingdom," he said.

The two-day conference, themed 'Tranforming the Skills Workforce: Realising Opportunities and Challenges', was organised by The National Association of Private Educational Institutions (NAPEI) in collaboration with The Victoria State Government, Australia.