KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz today expressed hope that German Vocational Education and Training (TVET), or German Dual Vocational Training, will be intensified to address the talent shortage in the semiconductor sector.

He said the government has agreed to provide RM25 billion in fiscal support to operationalise the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS).

This includes a RM1.2 billion allocation to train and upskill 60,000 high-skilled Malaysian engineers to tackle the talent shortage in the sector.

"Apart from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry’s joint efforts with the Ministries of Human Resources and Higher Education, we welcome the Malaysia-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (MGCC) tireless efforts in coordinating German TVET or German Dual Vocational Training.

"Given the hundreds of German companies in Malaysia, I hope this highly regarded programme can be intensified to continue upskilling the next generation of Malaysian workers within your organisations, particularly in the semiconductor industry,” he said at the MGCC annual general meeting today.

Also present were the Ambassador of Germany to Malaysia Dr Peter Blomeyer, MGCC executive director Jan Noether, MGCC president Tim Groth, and MGCC vice president Geetha Kandiah.

Tengku Zafrul also proposed a Malaysian-German partnership in digitalisation.

"One exciting area is digitising the halal ecosystem and halal economy. Although Malaysia has made significant strides and built its leadership in the halal industry, there is still much more we can do beyond innovating the next award-winning sukuk model,” he said.

He said while German companies that are strong in digitalisation can support Malaysia in using technologies such as blockchain to secure the integrity of the halal supply chain, Malaysia can offer its expertise, infrastructure, and robust halal regulatory framework to serve the global halal market, which is estimated to reach US$5 trillion by 2030.

He mentioned that the European Union-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is still under consideration, saying, "We are looking at the terms.”

Furthermore, Malaysia has ratified and implemented two of the world’s largest regional free trade agreements: the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

"Both present expanded prospects not only for our key trading partners under the agreements but also for foreign investors, including German companies, in Malaysia,” he said, adding that being part of these trade pacts allows Malaysia to explore new levels of trade cooperation.

In addition to several FTAs in the pipeline to be concluded this year, he said, "Malaysia is always ready to collaborate with Germany on high-quality projects that will mutually benefit both our countries and industries.” — Bernama