According to a recent report, the Malaysian Prime Minister stated that the nation aims to recognise the potentials and prospects for green industries and jobs in ASEAN countries, during its time as chair of the ASEAN labour sector.
This was announced in the Prime Minister’s speech, which was read out by the Human Resource minister at the 25th ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur.
According to reports, the PM also said that Malaysia hopes to develop corresponding regional policies regarding green industries during the three-year period from 2018 to 2020.
As read by the HR minister, the Prime Minister stated urged the nations present at the meeting to embark on this journey immediately, noting that Malaysia will do its best to take the labour sector forward by incorporating green jobs and skills into the aegis of its chairmanship.
ASEAN also looks forward to working with China, Japan and South Korea in advancing meaningfully for the future of green jobs and skills in the region, particularly in greentech.
In line with this, the Malaysian Prime Minister is confident that ASEAN’s labour sector will witness significant outcomes in the greening of industries, jobs and skills.
In fact, he also noted that employment across ASEAN’s green economy grew by 3.2% over the past two years, compared to the overall economic growth of 5% to 6%. This meant that almost 1.4 million new green jobs had been created, according to the DBS’ Annual Report 2017 on Green Job Opportunities in ASEAN, it was reported.
The Prime Minister also stated in his speech that in the same vein, the nation and ASEAN, in general, have seen strong growth, particularly in the renewable energy sector such as wind and solar power, as well as the production of equipment and installations for heating and energy saving that subsequently create jobs in the region.
He noted that looking forward, as technology evolves, we can expect an increase in the creation of new green jobs and stronger growth in current occupations and greening industries.
Further, Malaysia’s Government aims to boost the growth of the green technology sector, targeting a revenue of RM180 billion and creating more than 200,000 green jobs by 2030.
While the Prime Minister is optimistic about this, he also stressed the importance of the Government as well as workers’ and employers’ organisations starting to promote green jobs and skills from now.
A report released late last year noted that the Green Technology Master Plan (GTMP) aims to boost the growth of Malaysia’s green technology sector, with targeted revenue of RM180 billion, while creating more than 200,000 green jobs by the year 2030.
The plan outlines Malaysia’s green technology strategy to create a resource-efficient, low-carbon footprint economy.
In fact, the country’s energy, green technology and water (KeTTHA) minister, had unveiled the master plan at the 8th International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM 2017) in mid-October 2017.
He had said that the GTMP would lay the foundation for a holistic shift in Malaysia’s approach to socio-economic development while adhering to the principles of sustainability.
He added that the plan outlined the action plan and initiatives that cut across six major sectors – energy, manufacturing, building, transport, waste and water.
Several strategic partnerships were forged at IGEM 2017, including a tripartite agreement between Petronas Dagangan, TNB Energy Services (wholly-owned subsidiary of Tenaga National) and GreenTech Malaysia to boost the electric-charging stations network nationwide as well as the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Prasarana Malaysia and GreenTech Malaysia for the development of Prasarana’s sustainability blueprint.
Thus, the new spur of optimism together with the GTMP, it is expected that Malaysia will see many new jobs in the greentech sector.
