KUANTAN: A total of 50 of the 63 Bio-Agrotech and Bio-Pharmaceutical Career and Entrepreneurship (BeST 2.0) apprenticeship participants have secured permanent jobs in the fields of modern agriculture and bio-pharmaceuticals.
This means that 79% of all who have participated in the programme run by the Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation (Bioeconomy Corporation) are now permanently employed.
Speaking about this, Bioeconomy Corporation chief executive officer Mohd Khairul Fidzal Abdul Razak said that BeST 2.0 could reduce youth unemployment among graduates who had difficulty finding jobs and an income commensurate with their qualifications, especially in the two fields.
He said 39 out of 48 of the apprentices got jobs in the agriculture and aquaculture sector while 11 out of 15 in the bio-pharmaceutical field, with both numbers exceeding the key performance indicator (KPI) targets set in 2021.
“We collaborated with private companies to supply graduates who are skilled, knowledgeable and have relevant work experience in the industries while enabling companies to receive a workforce that meets their requirements and have the required academic criteria and qualifications.
“Through BeST 2.0, Bioeconomy Corporation not only matches employers with the workforce, but we also want to produce highly skilled, technologically literate, highly motivated entrepreneurs and meet the needs of modern industry,” he said in a media statement here today.
Mohd Khairul Fidzal said modern agriculture and bio-pharmaceuticals were given priority in BeST 2.0 because these fields play an important role in ensuring food safety and public health, especially with the outbreak of COVID-19, besides also involving the use of modern technology applications.
BeST 2.0is also seen as able to increase youth involvement in the modern agriculture and bio pharmaceutical industries as well as reduce dependence on foreign labour in line with the government’s aspiration to produce a skilled workforce of locals, especially among the youth.
The BeST 2.0 programme was approved by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) and is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI).
– Bernama