Business

Tuesday July 21, 2009

Multinational corporations to create 5,000 jobs

By DAVID TAN


Electronic companies in need of engineers by year-end

GEORGE TOWN: Some 5,000 engineering jobs in hardware and software designing will be created by multinational corporations (MNCs) and local electronic companies in the country by year-end.

About 5% of these jobs would be related to hardware design engineering of integrated circuits (ICs), said Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng.

Ng was speaking at a press conference after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Intel Malaysia to formalise the corporation of an industry-academia collaboration and the development of a curriculum on engineering for local universities.

“So far this year about 5,000 engineering jobs have been created,” she added.

Atul Bhargava (left) exchanging documents with Ng Wan Peng. Looking on are (second left) Intel Corp Digital Enterprise Group senior vice-president and GM Pat Gelsinger and MDeC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali.

Ng said 50 lecturers from 20 local universities had completed training on the first two of the six-module curriculum with Intel Malaysia at its facility in Penang.

“They will complete the six-module curriculum by next year,” she said, adding that the curriculum would benefit some 3,000 engineering students in the country.

“To develop the curriculum with Intel Malaysia, MDeC provided information on the needs of MNCs and the electronics sector.

“Intel Malaysia provided the technological content and the facilities for training,” she said.

Meanwhile, Intel Malaysia managing director Atul Bhargava said the curriculum was one way to plug the shortage of knowledge workers in the country.

“With this collaboration, we hope to develop a pool of knowledge workers that will continue to fuel innovation and contribute towards the country’s economic prosperity,” he said.

He said Intel understood the challenges faced by local graduates who often found themselves equipped with technical skills that were not aligned with current industry requirements.

“Through this MoU, we are committed to help local graduates acquire industry-relevant technical knowledge,” he added.


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