Funding for upgrades

The Malaysian government has launched an RM2 million (US$600,000) fund to retrain 500 workers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

HR Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the new fund, known as the Malaysia Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) Skills Upgrading Fund, would assist more than 8000 SMEs in continuous retraining and skills upgrading.

“The aim is to upgrade their knowledge and skills in the areas of innovation, creativity and high value-adds, and also to encourage SMEs to send their employees for training in certification programmes that would increase their income,” Subramaniam said.

“These objectives are in line with the government's aspiration to develop Malaysia as a high-income economy with human capital development as the impetus for growth,” he added.

Subramaniam said the fund would provide financial assistance for staff of employers  registered with the ministry's "Perbadanan Sumber Manusia Berhad (HR Corporation)." 

“Under this scheme, employers can claim up to 100% of the course fees while other allowable costs such as daily allowances, accommodation and transportation will be borne by the participating employers.”

Due to limited resources, only one employee per employer will be allocated the funding, based on a first-come first-served basis. Subramaniam said the effectiveness of the fund would be monitored through an impact study and additional allocations would be provided if it meets its objectives.

Last year, some RM73.09 million of financial assistance was approved for SME employers, creatingmore than 120,000 training places. This represented 21.46% of the total RM340.65 million approved for all employers.