The initiative of the ministry of industries to collaborate with Japanese institutions to impart technical training to skilled and unskilled labour is just what the doctor ordered to revive our stalled industrial sector. That the training will cover workforce in manufacturing, energy, environment, agriculture, etc, indicates that the need to incorporate value addition in production and export diversification has finally made its way to the top-most finance managers.
There is a lot we can learn from the Japanese, in addition to technical upgradation. They faced similar financial bottlenecks some decades ago, when the post war stimulus dried and a largely unskilled labour force pressured employment to the downside. Tokyo responded by investing heavily in human resource development, bolstering the critical small and medium enterprise sector that led the way in production and value addition. Malaysia, too, upgraded its human resource so subsequent expansion was not limited to a narrow band of options.
Therefore, the ministry’s suggestion that the Japanese explore the possibility of upgrading our training facilities holds even more value than immediate financial and vocational help. These are essential input-steps in a necessary restructuring of the economy. For far too long we have ignored industry, production, and mechaniastion of agriculture, the result being low export earnings, persistent reliance on imports and a cramped fiscal position for the government.
Relevant authorities must explore more such avenues since slowing growth in the economic north is prompting reorientation of trade relations, especially in emerging Asia, which can no longer rely on the west’s ability to keep up spending on imports. Japan’s advantage in this particular deal would be improved market outreach as it struggles to shrug off a tsunami hangover and a stronger yen reducing its export earnings. The post ’08 crash environment has given rise to a new kind of globalisation, redefining national endowments and comparative advantage. The Pak-Japan program is a perfect example of the kind of partnerships that will be forged.
