KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — The newly rebranded Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) will be the central agency for all human resource development programmes moving forward, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

He said this would enable Malaysians to use a "single window” platform for all their job searching and applications for upskilling programmes offered by the government.

"This integrated system can be accessed by more than a million Malaysians next year. As many as 5,000 courses will be offered by the various ministries and government agencies and it is expected to attract as many as 220,000 fully government funded participants,” he said during the rebranding ceremony.

HRD Corp was previously named the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF). It was rebranded as part of government efforts to enhance the agency’s role in talent development.

This year, several programmes have been carried out by HRD Corp such as the online learning hub e-LATiH which Ismail Sabri said had 154,000 registered students and 400,000 enrolments in more than 400 highly-skilled courses.

The HRD Corp Placement Centre is a one-stop portal for job placements with almost 40,000 placements since April last year.

"HRD Corp has spent RM420 million last year for employer training development programmes where 416,00 have undergone various programmes.

"This year, levy collections have also reached RM680 million and part of it has been used to train 500,000 workers,” he added.

"Based on these encouraging efforts, I am confident that HRD Corp will make training and upskilling programmes more systematic and will continue to provide the skills necessary based on industry needs.”

HRD Corp will not only collect levies for the purposes of upskilling and reskilling employees, but also function as a corporate body that ensures the national agenda for human capital development remains on track.