KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11): The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) announced today that four new members have been appointed to its board of directors.

In a statement, it said the four are: Petronas senior vice-president of group human resource Datuk Raiha Azni Abd Rahman, who is also a member of the Malaysian Employers Federation; retailer Sia Tze Yong who is the executive director of Everise Departmental Store Sdn Bhd; deputy president of non-profit organisation Educational Welfare and Research Foundation, Govindasamy Annamalai; and CEO of diversified organisation BTC Group, Datuk Abdul Kadir ME Sikkandar.

In a separate statement, HRDF said the Human Resources Minister announced today that HRDF will train approximately 1.2 million Malaysian workers in 2019 using the RM900 million HRDF levy that the fund will collect from registered employers.

HRDF said the Minister's announcement was made in Parliament today after fielding questions on the immediate improvements HRDF has taken following the release of an independent report on the fund's governance framework by an independent governance oversight committee (GOC) on Nov 10.

The GOC’s findings revealed that an ethical framework should sit at the heart of the HRDF’s governance structure to serve as an authoritative point of reference, HRDF noted. As such, Kula said the Ministry of Human Resources will harmonise its efforts with the HRDF to ensure that all Malaysian employees whose companies are registered with HRDF, as well as local employees at large, are up-skilled and re-skilled to meet the challenges of automation and digitalisation.

“The HRDF board of directors and the Management of HRDF have been empowered with the decision-making authority to keep to its mandate to spearhead the human capital learning and development of Malaysian employees, ensuring they are prepared to meet the demands driven by the current economic and technological change,” Kula said.

Kula added that the Ministry and HRDF are looking to establish effective partnerships with public universities and colleges in order to train graduates who are job-ready.

On top of that, the HRDF is also developing a skills’ matrix in line with industry requirements, which would essentially contribute to the fund’s mandate in upskilling the employees of its registered employers.

For these aims to be effectively achieved, HRDF said it is stepping up on its efforts to ensure that all liable employers under the PSMB Act 2001 are registered with the fund.

“I urge all HRDF-registered employers, individually and through their respective employer associations, to effectively and efficiently utilise your respective HRD levy contribution to HRDF, to accelerate human capital growth in Malaysia,” said Kula.