Keynote Address by Minister of Finance for The Launching of HRDF Placement Centre (HPC)

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY

YANG BERHORMAT SENATOR TENGKU DATUK SERI UTAMA ZAFRUL TENGKU ABDUL AZIZ
MINISTER OF FINANCE

for

THE LAUNCHING OF HRDF PLACEMENT CENTRE (HPC) 

on

6 APRIL 2021

at

CONFERENCE HALL, LEVEL 3 KLCC, KUALA LUMPUR

SALUTATION LIST

Yang Berhormat Datuk Seri M. Saravanan
Minister of Human Resources

Yang Berhormat Datuk Haji Awang Hashim
Deputy Minister of Human Resources

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Jamil Rakon
Secretary General of Human Resources

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Jamil Salleh
Chairman of Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF)

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Shahul Hameed Dawood
Chief Executive Officer, Human Resources Development Fund

Yang Berbahagia Professor
Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Haji Mohamed Haniffa Haji Abdullah
Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah PERKESO

Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Assalamualaikum WBT and Salam Sejahtera

1. Alhamdulillah, first and foremost praise to Allah SWT for giving us the strength and blessing to gather here today for the launch of the HRDF Placement Centre (HPC).

2. Thank you YB Datuk Seri M. Saravanan for the invitation, for me to be a part of this critical initiative. I am honoured to be here today – meeting those who have been working tirelessly to ensure that the Rakyat continue to be served and protected, especially during these uncertain times.

3. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) which has been at the forefront of ensuring every possible avenue is explored in helping more Malaysians have access to job opportunities.

4. This is in addition to the various proactive measures that have been undertaken by both the Ministry and its agencies, regardless of the challenges that they face. MOHR has been integral to the National Employment Council’s (NEC) initiatives.

Ladies and gentlemen,

5. The COVID-19 pandemic has stolen a year’s worth of our productivity, resulting in a health and economic crisis. To cushion the impact, the Government has taken swift and proactive measures through the implementation of four economic stimulus packages worth RM305 billion in 2020. As a result, this limited the contraction in our economy to 5.6%, as well as improved the unemployment rate from a high of 5.3% in May 2020, to 4.8% by end of 2020.

6. And now, with the reopening of more economic sectors under MCO 2.0, we have seen the daily loss limited to RM300 million, compared to RM2.4 billion a day during the MCO 1.0. The systematic implementation of our National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme which began in late February, along with global trade recovery, will provide support to Malaysia’s economic growth this year. Measures under Budget 2021 were crafted to support recovery and growth, which will be complemented by the PERMAI and PEMERKASA programmes. Overall, Bank Negara is expecting that our economy will grow between 6.0 to 7.5% this year, in line with forecasts made by international organisations such as the World Bank at 6.0%, and the IMF at 6.5%. The next question is: how do we get there?

Ladies and gentlemen,

7. In striving towards economic recovery and resiliency in 2021, the Government has 5 Focus Areas:

a. Focus 1: CONTROL COVID-19 To Enable Economic Opening (herd immunity by Dec 2021)

b. Focus 2: DRIVING ECONOMIC REVITALISATION while continuing to support affected rakyat and sectors

c. Focus 3: STRENGTHENING COMPETITIVENESS by strengthening the public service delivery system and improving workforce skills

d. Focus 4: ENSURING INCLUSIVITY by reducing development gaps between states and inequalities in society

e. Focus 5: TRANSFORM THE ECONOMY into a knowledge - based and innovation -driven economy

8. I have earlier outlined that one of our key priorities this year is to create and facilitate more jobs, which is under Focus 2. To this end, we have established the NEC, which is chaired by the Prime Minister himself, to create 500,000 jobs this year. All these efforts were announced under the JanaKerja initiative in Budget 2021, for which the MOF has allocated RM3.7 billion.

9. So far, job creation efforts by both the NEC and MOHR have shown encouraging success rates. We have not only managed to place more than 110,000 jobs by end of March, but also received positive feedback from employers on their needs and requirements. There have also been encouraging signs in the labour market which are expected to support the recovery in income levels and, in turn, private consumption.

10. For example, the FMM-MIER survey announced in early March indicated that there have been more jobs in the manufacturing sector recently, as shown in the employment index which increased from 82 in the first half of 2020 to 95 in the second half of 2020. In terms of hiring, 15% of employers had increased their employee headcount by end-2020, compared to 6% in the first half of 2020, indicating improved business sentiment.

11.Moreover, we have seen improved labour placement rate based on SOCSO’s Employment Insurance Scheme tracking. In March this year, for every 100 people who lost their jobs, 36 successfully found employment, compared to only 9 throughout the second quarter of 2020. With all the measures in place, we are confident that this will further improve in the coming months.

12. Besides job creation, another element that is equally important is job retention. The Wage Subsidy Programme introduced last year, is vital in keeping businesses afloat, to help them maintain their capacity, if not all of it, then at least partly. This is important not only to protect workers across industries, but also to enable businesses to pick up pace and ride on the wave of economic recovery, forecast towards the second half of 2021. More than 2.7 million jobs have been saved since the Wage Subsidy Programme was launched in April 2020, with a total allocation of RM14.4 billion. The programme has also benefited more than 320,000 employers.

13. Moving forward, we are committed to creating high skilled and high paying jobs through high value investments, both domestic and foreign. Greater adoption of technology and digitalisation, as well as planned investments to enhance high-speed Internet connectivity and build 5G infrastructure as indicated in the MyDigital blueprint, will definitely create job opportunities in the technology and IT services industry.

Ladies and gentlemen,

14. With the launch of the HPC, public and private collaboration will be institutionalised, along with the creation of employment opportunities. This is especially important in upgrading the workforce based on employability needs by providing the required up-skilling, reskilling and competencies training.

15. These efforts will help further secure employment, supported by a job portal as a matching platform for supply and demand. Without a doubt, the HPC will complement and support the NEC towards meeting its objectives by the end of this year. InsyaAllah, it will also help to increase the average household income of Malaysians, while further improving the nation’s labour market.

16. Before I end, again I would like to congratulate MOHR and its agencies, especially the Human Resource Development Fund – for their wholehearted commitment in driving our nation’s human capital aspiration for today, and the future. Thank you.

Wabillahi al-taufiq wal hidayah wassalamu’alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Bin Tengku Abdul Aziz
Minister of Finance
6 April 2021