Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin attended a ceremony at Sarawak Community College on February 13th 2015 to formalise a strategic collaboration between Sarawak community colleges and priority industries within SCORE.

Currently, there are approximately 1,800 community college graduates working in the economic corridors, with around 150 based within SCORE and ten priority industries.

Speaking to the Borneo Post, Tan Sri Muhyiddin said, “For community college graduates, such collaborations will allow them to gain new skills and industry specific experience, as well as to create networks for job placements. In the context of SCORE, such strategic collaborations ensure that more local manpower will be matched to the specific needs of the industries involved.”

These tie-ins with SCORE offer significant benefits to the local community. Graduates will learn about industries that are set to dominate the state’s economic development and get the opportunity to work on prestigious projects in those industries. Sarawak will also gain talented, experienced workers with skill sets that should guarantee them full employment throughout their working lives.

Sarawak is beginning to get the most from its natural resources and the state government is determined to ensure the community benefits from those natural resources. With the development of a number of dams, extensive oil and gas resources and the location of SCORE at the heart of South East Asia’s growing middle class population, this investment in students and their training will help to see ensure local communities benefit for many years.

This is an exciting time for Sarawak, which is bucking world economic trends and drawing in billions of dollars of investments. Community College graduates are better placed than at any time in the past to create real prosperity for themselves, their families and their community. This tie-in will profit Malaysia as a whole, and no doubt garner interest from all over the region as Sarawak continues to go from strength to strength.

- RECODA