ISKANDAR PUTERI, Sept 25 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the private sector’s involvement in technical and technology education is important to produce competent and qualified graduates in new fields.

He said the areas of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and artificial intelligence (AI) needed the support from the private sector in an effort to reform the current education system to be more efficient.

Anwar said there was also a need for established conglomerates such as Khazanah Nasional and even Bursa Malaysia to be able to collaborate with these education institutions.

He said that multinational corporations that he has talked to have praised Malaysia for having a disciplined and qualified workforce.

"However, most told me that Malaysian workforce lacked achievement at the highest level and that can only be addressed with the support of the private sector.

"So, the collaborative efforts of government institutions to the private sector are needed to fulfil the requirements for the future,” he said in his opening address at the Invest Malaysia 2024 event at the Sunway Big Box Hotel in Sunway City here today.

Present at the event was Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and Bursa Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said that Malaysia’s first AI education faculty in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) took only four months to complete.

He said UTM’s Faculty of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was initiated after he visited Ahu Dhabi where he was shown the country’s success in having an AI university.

"I was amazed that they can introduce something relatively new at an advance stage in such a short time.

"For Malaysia, AI exists here and is related to potential investments, but we lacked a proper faculty.

"As a former educator and having thought in a university in Washington DC previously, my concern is that it will take one to two years to establish an AI faculty. We can’t afford that.

"I then challenged UTM to set-up the AI faculty and gave the initial funds but reminded them that it must be done fast.

"I am proud to say that UTM have managed to set-up the AI faculty in four months,” said Anwar.

He was commenting on UTM’s Faculty of AI that was completed in May. The faculty is touted as the first and only AI integration and teaching institution throughout the country.