KUALA LUMPUR: A draft amendment of the Human Resources Development Act 2001 is expected to be presented to the Human Resources Ministry next year.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed in its report today that the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) was in the process of amending the act, with the matter to be deliberated by its board and joint working committee.
"The amendment process is ongoing. The joint working committee has been approved by the board and the next step is for the committee to meet and deliberate on all recommendations, including this particular recommendation (to amend the act).
"The objective is to ensure that we have a draft bill ready for submission to the ministry by the middle of next year," the report said.
The amendment had also been highlighted to the board during a previous meeting, it said.
In July, the PAC had requested that the ministry re-evaluate HRD Corp's powers, particularly the role of the chief executive officer and its investment panel.
PAC also suggested that amendments to the act should be made if necessary. This followed the committee's disclosure that HRD Corp had failed to report substantial investment activities to its board of directors, resulting in a lack of oversight on its investments.
The PAC also said there was no representative from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) on the panel, which was a violation of the current Act.
However, the PAC said there had been no Bank Negara representative since 2017, as involving its regulator would create a conflict of interest.