HIGH-VALUE INDUSTRIES - No. 18 - 政府加大技能提升投入并转型以提高工资

Aug 13, 2026

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Government efforts are intensifying to restore dignity for Malaysian workers through fair wages, safer working conditions, and broader access to upskilling. Human Resources Minister Steven Sim says Malaysia must move away from a low-wage model by attracting high-value industries that create better-paying roles. The strategy aligns with the Madani Economy framework, using UP_TVET portal centralisation, faster national skills accreditation, and TVET upgrades that reach degree-equivalent levels while investing over RM10 billion in skills training.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

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High-Value Industries

Government push for upskilling and fair pay

Shift toward high-value industries and economic structure

UP_TVET portal, skills accreditation, and TVET qualification upgrades

Investment scale and “3Ks” linkage

BERITA HARIAN UTUSAN M'SIA N.STRAITS TIMES SINAR HARIAN □ THE STAR # HIGH-VALUE INDUSTRIES Govt ramping up upskilling efforts,shifting economic model to boost wages PUTRAJAYA:The government isintensifyingeffortsto restore dig-nity to Malaysian workers bypushing for fair wages,saferworking conditions and greateraccess to upskilling. Human Resources MinisterSteven Sim said Malaysia mustmove away from the low-wageeconomic model and instead at-tract high-value industries thatcan offer better-paying jobs forMalaysian talent. "We are in a race to catch up onlost time,lost opportunities andmissed progress.And indeed,when I was appointed human re-sources minister,one of the thingsthat kept me upat night was work-ers'wages. "I want our workers to receivewages that truly reflect the valueof their work.But Ialso recognisethat wages are not determined solely by the generosity of em-ployers or the skills of workers,”he said at the launch of the P10XAcademy here. Sim said while wages were of-ten viewed as the responsibilityof employers or tied to workers'competency,the deeper chal-lenge lies in the country's overalleconomicstructure. "If the majority of our workersremain in traditional sectors,such as agriculture or low-skilledmanufacturing,naturally,wageswill remain low.” Sim also said Malaysia has beencaught in the middle-incometrap since the 1990s and mustnow transition towards high-val-ue industries,such as semicon-ductors,consulting and ad-vanced engineering,to breakthrough. To support this,he said,the Sim said this was aligned withthe Madani Economy frameworkintroduced by Prime MinisterDatuk SeriAnwar Ibrahim,whichaims to “raise the ceiling”by in-creasing the value of economicoutput,and “raise the floor”byimproving workers'wellbeing. "We cannot allow companies torake in millions while underpay-ing workers or ignoring mini- government was actively court-mumwage laws.Workers must being strategic investments fromproperly compensated.”global tech giants,includingSim said the ministry was fo-Microsoft and Google,whichcused on three strategic priori-could create high-quality jobs forties:improving workers'welfare,Malaysians.upgrading skills and boosting"These are not just local com-productivity,which he referred topanies,they are defining how theas the“3Ks”under the broaderworld uses the Internet and mo-objective of “karamah insaniah”bile technology.Together with lo-(human dignity).cal firms and government sup-port,they can lift us up the valuechain." "Our goal is for every worker togo to work with dignity,be fairlypaid,and return home safely." Among the initiatives intro-duced is the UP_TVET portal,which centralises applications tomore than 600 publie and privateTVETinstitutions.The portal hasreceived over 140,000·applica-tions to date. Sim said the ministry had alsoreduced the certificate process-ing time for national skills ac-creditation from two months to two weeks,with a target of justone day in the future. To elevate the standing of tech-nical education,he said the gov-ernment was amending the Na-tional Skills Development Act toinclude Levels 6,7,and 8,makingTVET qualifications equivalentto those of a bachelor's,master's,and even PhDlevels. "We want to make it clear thatTVET is not a second-class op-tion.It is aviable and prestigiouspathway to career success andnational development." Sim said skilled Malaysianworkers were increasingly in de-mand,especially those with cer-tified technical qualifications. "This is why we are investingover RM10 billion this year in ed-ucation and skills training.If wewant high-value jobs,we mustbuild high-value people.”

FAQs

政府为何要加大技能提升（upskilling）力度？

政府希望通过公平工资、更安全的工作条件以及更广泛的培训机会，提升马来西亚工人的尊严与福祉。

工资低的根本挑战被认为是什么？

相关说法认为，挑战不仅来自雇主慷慨程度或工人的技能，而在于国家整体经济结构。若多数劳动力仍集中在农业等传统行业或低技能制造业，工资自然难以提高。

文件提到哪些与技能体系相关的具体举措？

包括UP_TVET门户对600多个公私TVET机构申请的集中管理；国家技能认证的处理时间从两个月缩短到两周，并计划进一步缩短到一天；同时修订《国家技能发展法》，将TVET资格纳入到6至8级，使其与学士、硕士甚至博士等同。

政府如何实现向高价值产业转型并创造更好的就业？

通过推动向半导体、咨询和先进工程等高价值领域转型，使高质量岗位对马来西亚人才更有吸引力；并以“3Ks”目标（karamah insaniah即人类尊严）为导向，提升生产力、改善福利并提升技能。

Aug 13, 2026

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