By Andy Heong
The partnership deal between Ministry of Youth and Sports and Mercedes-Benz Malaysia is to further develop vocational skills among young Malaysians specially for the automative industry.
Its minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the cooperation was in line with the nation’s vision of increasing the level of skilled and dynamic workforce so that the youth community would be more competitive in the job market.
“The partnership will be a great boon to our nation’s effort in human capital development. More importantly it is a great example of how a coupling between the public and private sectors can help provide a better future for youths of Malaysia,” he said.
Khairy was speaking before witnessing the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ministry and Mercedes-Benz Malaysia here today.
The agreement was signed by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Jamil Salleh and Mercedez-Benz Malaysia [resident and chief executive officer Roland Folger.
Under the collaboration, 12 students in Automative (Commercial Vehicles Maintenance) field, aged 19 to 25 years, from National Youth Skills Training Institute (IKBN) will be selected to undergo intensive product and systems training at the Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Apprentice Training Centre.
“Selected students will acquire knowledge in automotive maintenance repairs, electrical systems, trouble shooting and soft skills such as retailing during a three-month intensive training,” he said.
He added three IKBN trainers would be also trained on the ethics and culture of today’s highly automated and customer-centric automotive industry.
Khairy Jamaluddin
Khairy said the programme that would start this October and end by January next year, was dedicated to developing human capital and equipping young Malaysians with the right skills to meet the demand of multi-national companies, locally and internationally.
“When we train more youths in skilled sectors, we hope to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign labours and we can retain this skills within Malaysia and they can go abroad and work,” he said.
Meanwhile, Folger said this partnership follows a year-long discussion, planning and preparation process between Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, ministry and IKBN.
“Established over 30 years ago, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s Apprentice Training Centre has to date trained more than 700 apprentice, all of whom have been absorbed into Mercedes Benz nationwide dealership network,” he added.
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