KOTA KINABALU: The country's business environment has to stand out from regional peers and appeal to global players, said Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
He said the country needed to build on the current solid growth momentum.
Last year, Malaysia recorded a domestic product growth of 8.7 per cent which was the highest annual growth in 22 years, indicating that the country was on a solid path to recovery.
He added that in recent times, Malaysia has also witnessed significant investment commitments from global giants like Tesla, AMD Global Services, and Amazon Web Services.
"These investments will generate new jobs for Malaysians, boost the development of our technological infrastructure, and elevate high-value economic activities.
"However, this is not the time to remain complacent. As global competition intensifies, countries are competing among themselves for a finite pool of foreign investments.
"In fact, our regional counterparts, such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, have all embarked on intensive and proactive efforts to attract more multinational corporations to their countries," he said at the launching of National Human Capital Conference and Exhibition (NHCCE) 2023 - Borneo Region held at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here.
Sivakumar said the development of a dynamic, knowledgeable and highly skilled workforce was crucial to boosting Malaysia's business environment.
He said the Human Resources Ministry was formulating policies and spearheading initiatives to enhance Malaysians' soft, technical and future work skills.
The ministry also supported industry players in offering greater upskilling and reskilling opportunities for their employees.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the state government supported efforts to drive economic activity and nurture human capital development to sustain and grow long-term investments coming to the state.
He said from 2020 to 2022, it had secured investments worth RM11.5 billion with 89 projects generating over 4,500 job opportunities for Sabahans.
The Integrated Green Steel Project, worth RM19.6 billion at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park, is also expected to create more than 10,000 highly-skilled jobs for the local community.
Hajiji's speech was read by state deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
-Pictures by Bernama