Hunt For Malaysian Talent In Perth

By Neville D'Cruz MELBOURNE, May 31 (Bernama) -- About 80 professionals and post-graduate students attended a meeting in Perth to hear Malaysia's Consul-General Hamidah Ashari explain the Malaysian Government's TalentCorp programme to help achieve developed nation status by 2020. She said the Returning Expert Programme was an initiative of the Malaysian Government to attract and facilitate the return of Malaysian professionals working overseas. "We need your expertise to grow the nation and achieve an advanced economic status by 2020. We need and value your expertise and talent as Malaysia undergoes economic transformation. "We need to stem the brain drain, pursue brain gain and retain talents. Malaysia is at a critical point of development. "Sustained rapid economic growth has raised Malaysia from a low-income agriculture and commodity-based economy to become a successful middle-income economy. "But the world is changing and Malaysia needs a fundamentally new economic model to become a high-income nation," she said. Hamidah said the 12 National Key Economic Areas were the drivers of economic activities that had the potential to directly contribute to the country's progress. She said the government had several attractive incentives for Malaysians abroad with expertise and experience to return home. They include generous income tax benefits and good international schools for their children. Hamidah took several questions from the enthusiastic attendees who showed keen interest in the programme. -- BERNAMA