KUALA LUMPUR: The skills of the workforce need to be improved to contribute to the country’s competitiveness and restore Malaysia’s status as an Asian Tiger, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

He said towards a skilled workforce, workers need to hone their creative and critical thinking skills to solve problems and innovate in carrying out tasks.

He said in line with the efforts to improve the skills of the workforce, focus should also be given to research and development (R&D).

“We have to think about how we want to simplify our work, how we can speed up our work, how we can detail our work... when we work, think about what new methods we can solve.

“We are improving the quality of our work so that our work will always improve, that is why we need skilled workers who are knowledgeable, creative and innovative who can find solutions, can present solutions to any problems we face, work systems and so on ,“ he said.

He said this while speaking at the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Convocation Ceremony of Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK) here today.

At the ceremony, a total of 380 IWK staff received certificates including SKM Level 3 Special Recognition Certificate, National Dual Training System (SLDN) and SKM Level 2 Award.

Meanwhile, IWK chairman Ahmad Johnie Zawawi when speaking at the same event said the Malaysia Skills Certification programme introduced to IWK operational staff since 2019 proved IWK’s commitment to optimising and producing more skilled staff.

“It is in line with the government’s intention and target to transform the field of education and technical training into the new millennium in accordance with the challenges that require high skills and competence in order to improve the level of service efficiency of an organisation,“ he said.