HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT CENTRAL TO FORMATION OF NEW ECONOMIC MODEL

BANGI (Malaysia), March 12 (Bernama) -- The development of human capital is
one of the central strategies in the formulation of the new economic model for
the country which will be launched end of this month, Malaysian prime minister
Najib Razak said.

In this context, if the quality of the human capital, intellectual capital
and mental capacity of the university crowd like academicians, lecturers and
students, could not be raised, then the government's aspiration to transform
Malaysia into a knowledge- and innovation-rich country would be stalled, he
said.

"When we speak of a developed and high-income nation, the element that can
support this objective is none other than our capability in terms of
intellectual capital and skills," he said when addressing about 200
academicians, administrative officers and staff and students of a university,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) here.

His visit to the university is part of a series of visits to interact
informally with the staff and students of tertiary institutions. Prior to this,
he visited the International Islamic University (IIU).

Najib said this development of human capital in terms of intellect and
skills and noble values, including work ethics, was a prerequisite in the
government's effort to bring about a huge transformation of the country.

To achieve this, the government would focus attention on the education
system from pre-school right up to the university level.

"We have started with the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), we have
extended pre-school education...we have the Permata programme and so forth to
develop the grassroot level or the lowest level possible right up to the ivory
tower," he said.

Najib also touched on his announcement Tuesday on a better service scheme
for professors in the local universities, aimed at opening up opportunities for
them to improve their status on par with their knowledge.

"I hope that with this, we can unlock the full potential of the university
staff, especially at the level of the academicians who have big potential to
contribute to the development of intellectual capital."

He said Chief secretary to the Government Mohd Sidek Hassan would give the
details of the scheme at a meeting next week.

"With this, we can create a system that can inject spirit and motivation for
them (lecturers) to contiue to pursue knowledge and enhance their capability to
be on par with those in reknowned universities in other countries.
-- BERNAMA