Executive Summary
Considered to be one of the "Tiger Economies", Malaysia has largely benefitted from sound economic policies and bountiful resources and transformed its economy into a model of progress and stability in the region. With its strong economic performance, it is on track to become a developed country by 2020, as emphasized in the "Wawasan 2020" initiative introduced by its former Prime Minister, Mahatir bin Mohammad. This vision calls for the nation to achieve self-sufficiency in all aspects of economic and social life, thereby providing Malaysians with a better and sustainable future. Indeed, it has been very confident in declaring that Malaysia will have "No Poverty by 2013" through its 1Azam program to provide assistance to the poorest sectors. Recent statistics show that it has indeed been successful in reducing poverty, with only 3.80% of the population living below the national poverty line since 2009.
An emerging need is thus identified to sustain the economic and social gains from reforms to further complement the policies in achieving a "Developed Country" status by 2020. A need to further enhance the capability of its present and future workforce is necessary to make that ideal a reality.
CPSC, as an inter-governmental organization for the development of TVET in the Asia and the Pacific region, recognizes this need and heeds the advocacy for a more effective transfer of skills and knowledge for developing poverty alleviation initiatives. Previously, it has held this special in-country program to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar in the hopes of starting a domino-effect by training trainers and administrators.
Now, it has come to Malaysia in the aim of further strengthening the capability of the program participants to formulate, plan, design and implement programs in their country on the different aspects of poverty alleviation through TVET. The program also encourages the sharing of relevant information and trends on countries with low poverty rates and stable economies such as Malaysia, in order to help building a much more effective modality for a more successful implementation of the project.
