The development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Faculty at Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) is set to prepare a more highly skilled workforce, meeting the demands of foreign direct investment (FDI) for engineers and specialised professionals.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, highlighted that UniKL’s initiative to build the faculty, following similar efforts at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), will position Malaysia as a key focus for FDI.
“This year’s FDI alone demanded 30,000 engineers, which our nation could not fulfil,” he noted.
“With the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council and TVET Secretariat under the Deputy Prime Minister’s office, more proactive work can be done. This will not only strengthen the Malaysia China Institute (MCI) but also create at least 200,000 job opportunities from this half of the year to next year, given that there are at least 250,000 available intakes at the TVET institutions.
“The unemployment rate can also be reduced to at least 1% from the current rate,” he said, responding to a question from the Member of Parliament for Dungun on KKDW’s talent retention plan for MCI graduates, during a parliamentary session on 25th June.
During a recent working visit to China, Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid noted that only two TVET institutions in the country collaborate with Malaysia, despite interest from over 200 industry players and TVET institutions to extend their cooperation.
As a result of the visit, UniKL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which includes sharing expertise and knowledge in data analytics related to the development of smart cities and disaster monitoring technology.
Additionally, five more strategic partnerships were established with renowned educational institutions and key industry players in China, including Liuzhou Railway Vocational Technical College, Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), Nantong University, Alibaba Cloud (M) Sdn Bhd, and KTK Dom Railway Sdn Bhd.
