6 - Penang in the New Asian Economy: Skills Development & Future Human Resource Challenges

Summary

INTRODUCTION

From world-class industrial giants to globally-renowned IT leaders, Penang hosts a wide range of companies. From less than 10 MNCs in the 1970s, it has more than 1,000 MNCs and local SMEs today and was the first state in Malaysia to establish export processing zones. By the early 90s, it had earned itself the title of the “Silicon Valley of the East.” The state's pursuit of competitiveness has paid off as companies present in Penang have chosen to locate higher value-added activities in the state, changing much of the manufacturing landscape. The Penang Skills Development Centre has played a key part in this transition through its role in liaising with industry to identify key skill gaps in the state's workforce and moving to address them through practical and focused training interventions.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN PENANG: THE UNIQUE ROLE OF THE PSDC

The Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) is a player critical to the evolution of the state's manufacturing industry. The Centre is a unique organization that has helped in the transformation of Penang's E&E sector. Established in 1989 as the first skills development centre in Malaysia, the PSDC is an industry-led, non-government, non-profit oriented human resource development centre. First in the country, it is built upon a tripartite partnership between industry, academia and government. This synergistic relationship has allowed the PSDC to evolve along with the changing needs of the economy and produce industryrelevant students and trainees which are of international standard.

The establishment of the PSDC came at a time when Penang needed to ensure a ready supply of appropriately skilled labour to support the needs of existing and potential investors. The State Government of Penang, through its then investment and trade promotion arm, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), initiated discussions with three of the state's leading multinational corporations – Hewlett Packard, Motorola and Intel – to set up a skilled manpower training centre in Penang.