Varsities role in developing workforce key to devt — CM
KUCHING: Higher learning institutions bear an important responsibility to build innovation and competitiveness which are critical to economic development.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said this is to ensure the workforce is prepared for the demands of economic change.
“I would like to urge universities like UiTM ( Universiti Teknologi Mara) to strive to serve the practical needs of the economy by teaching and training and, more significantly, by unleashing the creative thinking that propels our economy forward,” he said.
Abang Johari’s text- ofspeech was read by Minister of Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, who represented the chief minister at the launching of the first International Conference on Innovative Sciences and Technologies for Research and Education (lnnoSTRE) 2018, here yesterday.
According to him, universities have always been credited with providing opportunities for youths to develop themselves and advance economically, and that graduates are acknowledged as going on to contribute greatly to a country’s economic development and hence, to society.
“We view higher education in a global perspective and define the role of universities as a key to economic competitiveness. This is due in large measure to faculty- conducted researches which produce scientific breakthroughs in all fields of technology, industrial processes and production, agriculture, and
I would like to urge universities like UiTM (Universiti Teknologi Mara) to strive to serve the practical needs of the economy by teaching and training and, more significantly, by unleashing the creative thinking that propels our economy forwards.
so on.
“Growth in information technologies has facilitated deeper integration of economies across the globe while also posing both new opportunities and new challenges for the Malaysian economy,” he said.
Abang Johari added that with this international conference, the gathering of international experts in the field of innovative science and technologies will serve as a platform to advance towards this direction. Meanwhile, UiTM Sarawak rector Prof Dato Dr Jamil Hamali said the conference aims to provide researchers an opportunity to develop their niche areas in their academic studies in an ever- changing technological environment, to better improve their knowledge in their respective specialised areas which will be especially useful after they graduate.
In addition, he said it provides them with a unique platform to share the latest theories and practices prevalent in dynamic service economies.
“The conference also highlights the most recent innovations in science and technology development and identifies emerging and future areas of growth and collaborations in these exciting fields.”
Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Chief Minister