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As Selangor continues to attract high-value investment, building the right talent and innovation ecosystem is key to sustaining that growth. Selangor EXCO YB Tuan Papparaidu Veraman and UiTM’s Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Juliana Johari discuss efforts to strengthen Selangor’s talent pipeline, connect industry with research, and drive innovation to support the state’s next phase of development.
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00:15As Selangor continues to attract high-value investment, building the right talent and
00:20innovation ecosystem is key to sustaining that momentum. From Scout to Jelajah Kerjaya Job
00:26Keselangor, these initiatives connect local talent with opportunities in a
00:31changing economy. At the same time, the Selangor-led partnership program brings
00:35industry and universities together, opening new possibilities for R&D and
00:40market-ready technologies. Today we look at how these efforts are preparing
00:45Selangor's workforce, driving industry-led innovation and supporting the
00:49state's next phase of growth.
00:53Hello, I'm Fah Nasheh and you're watching Investment Insider, where we look at
00:58investing in Selangor's next decade. Now, today I'm joined by YB Tuan Paparadu
01:03Viraman, Selangor State Exco for Human Resources and Poverty Eradication.
01:08Right, thank you so much for joining us today. Now, we want to start with the
01:13bigger picture here because Selangor continues to attract significant
01:16investment in the region and that naturally brings in the question of
01:20whether we have the talent to support this kind of growth. How important is a
01:25strong human capital pipeline to sustain Selangor's investment and economic growth?
01:30Let's start there. Sure, first of all, I'd like to thank you so much for the entire team
01:34to meet up with me at this office to get the interview of mine. I would like to come back
01:41this
01:41human capital and investment, right? So, you see, actually, human capital is one of the important
01:49pipelines whereby we are a service provider and workforce provider to the developers, to the investors,
01:58to the company owners, to the employers so that we can provide a better level of understanding with both
02:05side, either employers or employment. So, we as one of the largest growth economic
02:13region in this country, so we are working towards on that, especially when we talk about the number of
02:18employments. Last year itself, we have provided about 61,000 jobs. That is one of the highest achievement
02:26by our team. And we talk about the job opportunities. Of course, the state government, then the
02:35University of Selangor and industry partners, the universities, of course, the training providers,
02:40we are looking for them for the better opportunities through the skilled providers. As you know, we are
02:48talented in every sector and then our workforce are much more higher professionals compared to others as
02:57well, when we compare to other states as well. So, on that part, I believe that we are the most
03:04important
03:04and team leader for the entire nation so that we are looking forward to have more collaboration between
03:15every sector, especially from the investors, company owners, industry and then of course from the another
03:27perspective, especially learning perspective, I'm looking at the universities and the learning
03:32institutions must merge together so that we can reach the need of the industry. Right, I'm going to take
03:38what you said just now as a compliment because you call Anak Selangor, that talented I am Anak Selangor also.
03:44So, when we talk about building that talent pipeline that you mentioned just now, right? I think it starts
03:49much earlier as well, right? The point at which someone's entered the workforce, it happens even before
03:55that, right? So, here is where Scout comes in, right? Selangor Career Outreach. So, do you mind explaining a
04:02little bit what is Scout and how does early industry exposure actually help prepare students for future
04:08careers like you mentioned just now? Yeah, that's a very important question, Ms. Farhanan, because,
04:13you see, the Scout will help the students to get ready what the industry needed by them in the future.
04:22So, Scout is some kind of, I can elaborate a bit in detail, it's about Selangor Career Outreach, you know,
04:29then it's worked this way, see, when the youngsters, they don't know which path they should choose for
04:38the future enrollment. So, Scout will guide them properly, so you should pick up this course so it
04:46will be marketable in the future. And Scout will work as an advancement, as a body whereby he will guide
04:54the
04:54student to pick up this course so that in the future that student can be more sustainable and
05:02independent for him and for the country as well. So, that's why we need this kind of a body to
05:08help to
05:09guide that particular student so they can reach their level best in the future. Right, so going into
05:15universities and talking to the students and sort of figuring out, you know, what they actually want
05:20their career and their future, right? And that's amazing. So, of course, exposure is one thing,
05:25and we talk about, you know, all the information that this students are going to have. But ultimately,
05:31young people also want to know what to do with that exposure, right? Particularly after when they
05:36graduate and enter an increasingly competitive workforce these days. So, how can initiatives such as
05:43Scout actually translate industry exposure into real employment opportunities?
05:50I will cut short for you. The objective of very simple, prepare our talent before the opportunities
05:57arrive at your door, doorstep. You see, sometimes when we compare to developed countries, you know,
06:05they are learning institutions or they are, we call it human capital, they are much more prepared for the future.
06:13Right? When we talk about Europe, US and all these countries. So, in this region, in Asia, we are the
06:20one of the,
06:20I mean, the larger economic growth country compared to others as well. Like, you know, we have Thailand,
06:29we have Cambodia, Vietnam and all these things. On that part, I think we are, especially in Selangor,
06:35we are doing our best part to educate our students, our generations, our young generations,
06:41to add up these kind of opportunities in the future. That's why I like to say that we don't wait
06:47for the
06:47opportunities. We prepare ourselves first, then we enter into market. Right. And I think it's good that,
06:54you know, the increasingly competitive job market, they say students or rather graduates seem to be more
06:59prepared than ever compared to before, I feel. Exactly. So, I guess beyond preparing, you know, students for what's to
07:05come when they enter the workforce,
07:07there's also the question of connecting people who are already looking for jobs with the opportunities
07:13available across Selangor, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I think this is where Jelajah Kerjaya Selangor and
07:18Omega Job Care comes in as well. Yes. So, how do these programs actually improve access to employment
07:24opportunities across the state? All right. I would like to say that we have a Carnival Kerjaya Jelajah Job Care.
07:33That's my core business actually in Sumber Manusia and Human Resource. You see, I would like to introduce
07:41this program to my Selangor people. Not even Selangor because sometimes I'm receiving from Perah and then
07:47from Southern Region as well. I don't mind. As long as they are Malaysians, that's my main motif. See,
07:54Jelajah Carnival Kerjaya means we are going throughout the 9th district in Selangor. Right. Start from Sabah Bandam
08:00until the Ampang as well. So, we are travel entire district. So, we go to the doorstep. We go to
08:07the district.
08:08We promote our job office. Sometimes it's more than 70 to 80 percent from that region itself. Right. Because my
08:17initial plan was,
08:18I don't want the person staying in Sabah Bandam, Sabah Bandam, to go to work. Right. That's another issue.
08:25That's also commute, right? Commute and then the other courses as well. And then traffic jam. Yeah, of course.
08:31We are famous for that, right? Yeah. And then the second part is toll and all these parking expenses.
08:37So, my plan was, that's why I introduced this program, Jelajah Job Care, to every district.
08:45Throughout the country and state, we go district by district. We promote the local job opportunities
08:51nearby themselves, especially the retail shops like 1999. They're all helping us a lot, actually. Right.
08:59Of course, I take this opportunity to thank the KESO, one of the co-organizers with me in my office.
09:06They're working very hard together with me. We have worked together. And then we come back to the
09:11mega job fair. Recently, we've done it at the SSC Mall. That carried about one of the, I'll say,
09:19this is my success in my career. Because we had that program with the under 47 employers. It's one of
09:26the largest. And then that is walk-in visitors. It's more than 20,000 people. Right. That's a lot.
09:32Yeah. That's the job vacancies about 11,000, more than 11,000 vacancies. Okay. The success story is
09:41about 2,320 candidates securing the employment on that day itself.
09:46Oh, okay. That's one of the, we call it break the record. Right. So 2,320 candidates secured their job
09:57on the spot. And then there was 2,435 candidates progressing for the second layer of interview.
10:03Because normally, some kind of jobs like we, we talk about engineers, we talk about executive
10:11and other levels of jobs. They need a more layer of interviews for the management to convince them.
10:18Don't convince them. Then this is the chance for them to go to second or third layer of interviews.
10:25So they can secure the jobs. Then most importantly, this is, I would like to tell to my Selangorian.
10:34Dalam about 11,000 vacancies, there is about 62.2% jobs offer more than 3,000 ringgit.
10:43Right. Okay. So when we look at this initiatives collectively, we have Scout, Jelaja Kerjaya,
10:48and even make our job care, right? How do they work together to strengthen Selangor's employment ecosystem,
10:54as well as ultimately feed into Selangor's investment ambitions?
11:00I would say that Scout and Invest Selangor, we are working very closely as a team so that we will
11:09work together for the betterment of everyone, especially the investors and then the universities
11:18and then the learning institutions whereby we, as I said earlier, we need to sit down, we have to
11:25collaborate together, we have to reformat the syllabus, especially the syllabus needs of the current
11:34status. That means, see, sometimes our syllabus is outdated. I don't, I don't disagree with that,
11:41but somehow we need to sit down with the, these investors and then the employers whereby what,
11:50what they need, you know, what kind of a product they need. That means what kind of students,
11:55the kind of employees they need. So for that, Scout will play their role and then the institution as well.
12:01We sit down and discuss, change their syllabus so that our, our students, our fresh, our freshers,
12:08our freshers will meet the demand of the day. That's how we work together.
12:15Right. Finally, looking ahead, because the investment landscape is obviously ever-changing,
12:21particularly, you know, when we talk about new tech industries coming into the state,
12:25Okay. What more needs to be done to ensure Selangor's talent pipeline keeps pace with the state's high value
12:32investment ambitions? I think we have an own responsible for securing our investors,
12:40for securing our, our, you know, shareholders, especially the, maybe locals and outsiders, you know,
12:48we have foreign investors very high in, in, in Selangor. For that, this is my responsible. I think we should
12:55work more closely with all related, uh, team, uh, teams, and then we, we should have a more, uh,
13:03engagement with them. As far as my concern is we fulfill their requirement. Right. So that,
13:08you know, like, uh, people, uh, like from Perra and from, uh, other states as well, even southern part,
13:14they will choose the, uh, Selangor is their living hub. Right. And then their trust on us is
13:21getting higher day by day. For that, I think this is the best time for us to rethink back
13:26what are the loopholes we left behind. We can repair it so we can fulfill their requirement and then move
13:33forward ahead. Right. Thank you so much, YB for your insights and also, I guess, for taking care of
13:39Selangor's talents and making sure, you know, that we are all fully utilized and, you know, making, um,
13:46full use of ourselves for the state of Selangor as well as for our own futures as well. Uh, we'll
13:51be right
13:52back after this break to talk more about this issue. Hello and welcome back to Investment Insider. Now,
14:13we've just been talking about the importance of building the right talent pipeline to support
14:18Selangor's investment ambitions. But increasingly, attracting high value investment is not just about
14:24having skilled workers, but it's also about having the right research and innovation capabilities to
14:30support communities as they grow. So now I'm joined by Professor in Senior Technologies, Dr. Juliana Johari,
14:36Deputy Vice Chancellor for Industry, Community and Alumni Network, UITM. So thank you so much for
14:42joining us, Prof. Um, right. Let me start with the broader ecosystem here. How critical is a strong talent
14:50research and innovation ecosystem, uh, in attracting and retaining high value investment in Selangor? Let's
14:57start there. Okay. Thank you so much, Farhana. Okay. Um, regarding the question, it is absolutely very
15:05critical for us to have, like, those talent, uh, and also research capabilities and innovation in Selangor. Um,
15:15the evolution of investment proposition, I can say that, uh, previous years, many investors coming, uh, to
15:22Malaysia or Selangor, they were, like, asking about, uh, where is the land? What is the infrastructure ready? Maybe
15:28what are the incentives and costs they should, uh, uh, invest? But again, uh, when we are looking at the
15:35current one or the new investment style, uh, especially the high value innovation, uh, proposition, uh, normally
15:42they just come and looking at, uh, where is the specialized talent? Uh, what are the technological
15:48capabilities that, uh, they do have and, uh, can we generate the, uh, intellectual property? And also, uh,
15:55uh, previously, perhaps maybe they should ask, like, uh, how cheaply and efficiently, uh, can I
16:01manufacture here? Because, uh, they wanted to bring their technology here and just manufacture here in
16:06Malaysia. But, uh, in Selangor, we hope that, uh, as the good model for Malaysia, so, uh, uh, perhaps the
16:13investor would ask, like, can I assess specialized expertise? And can we, uh, continue innovating after they
16:20establish the operators or the operations here? And, uh, uh, also, uh, we hope that, uh, currently, uh,
16:27currently, the way they look at universities is different as previous. Previous people thought, like,
16:32uh, they just produce graduates instead of talent. But, we hope that, uh, currently, or coming years,
16:38they will look, uh, the role of universities as long-term innovations, like, uh, a partner to solve, uh, their
16:44pain
16:44problems or the industry, uh, technical problems and also becoming their co-developer. So, uh, we hope
16:51that, uh, for the future workforce, uh, uh, they can see, uh, talent, research, and innovation, uh, no longer
16:59secondary effects or benefits, but they are the core investment proposition itself. Right. So, it seems
17:05that Selangor already has a strong foundation when it comes to investments here. At the same time, you know,
17:11we are at UITM, one of the leading universities in Malaysia, where you said just now talent, research,
17:16and innovation intersect, right? So, talking about that, one way of connecting those capabilities
17:22with industry is through stronger university-industry collaboration. So, I want to talk a little bit
17:28about Selangor Lab Partnership Program, which helps companies leverage university expertise,
17:33research facilities, and technology capabilities to support their R&D needs. So, how does this program
17:39actually do all this? Do you mind explaining a little bit about that? Okay, uh, thank you again.
17:44The SLPP or Selangor Lab Partnership Program, uh, is a very good example. A program that converts,
17:53or converts, uh, converts academic infrastructure into accessible industry needs, or industry assets. So,
18:00industry comes to us. For example, like, uh, this year, I can say that, uh, SLPP, uh, give financial
18:07assistance, uh, of up to 5,000 ringgit Malaysia per projek for eligible 2026 participants. Meaning that, uh,
18:17in UITM itself, we managed to, uh, adopt five industry partners that can execute project with UITM. Currently,
18:25we have, like, five projects under SLPP already executing with that 5,000. Meaning that some, with 5,000,
18:33uh, we may say that it is very small, uh, minimum, uh, amount, uh, Farhana, but, uh, uh, we can
18:40say that it is an introductory.
18:43Some SMEs or industry, they do not have a proper lab. They do not have a proper, uh, or workforce.
18:49So, with that 5,000,
18:51a meeting point, uh, handling by Bitkom, Bitkom will do some arrangement. Uh, Bitkom is our, uh,
18:58uh, transfer technology office in UITM. We call it, uh, Bitkom. So, Bitkom would, like,
19:02list all those, uh, uh, leads, uh, the, the expertise or researchers coming from industries. They will make,
19:09like, uh, a meeting, uh, discussion so that the, the experts would accept the pro, the programs and would
19:19do the research on top of it. So, uh, the companies, uh, and also the key point, uh, from SLPP
19:26is the talent
19:26and the dimension. So, the companies can, uh, engage with researchers and students through those
19:32projects while, uh, uh, students gain exposure to real-world, uh, uh, industry, uh, industrial problems
19:38and also potential future employment opportunities. So, I can say that SLPP, uh, creates value in
19:44both directions. Industry gain access to university capability. University gain direct exposure to current
19:51industry requirements and market problems. But if we're talking about research capabilities alone,
19:55having strong research capabilities is one thing, turning that research into something that is
20:01marketable is another, right? Uh, what's the challenge right now? What are the challenges to
20:06commercialize some of this research outcomes? Okay. And how can stronger
20:10industry-university partnerships help turn research into market-ready technologies
20:16and solutions? Because I think at the current landscape right now, that is what we're moving towards.
20:21Okay. Bridging the commercialization, Farhana here, in Bitkom, they famously call it the valley of death.
20:29Wow. The valley of death is like... This is too promising. Yeah, it's too promising. Meaning that,
20:34uh, in the university lab, we do, uh, generate knowledge. Uh, we can prove scientific
20:39concepts. We can create prototypes. We can produce IP. And also, in industry, they have, like,
20:46real operating environments. Uh, they're following the customer requirements. Uh, they're following the
20:50customer requirements. They can do scalability. And they can adopt the market, uh, requirement. But again,
20:56in between, you know, uh, they work in silo. So, Invest Lango and Bitkom,
21:01uh, we can do some ecosystem, bridging the gap, bridging the gap through co-development and direct market
21:05feedback. And, um, a technology may work scientifically in the lab. But progressing to a market-ready product
21:14requires resources, universities that cannot simulate alone. So, uh, we, the valley of death, uh, isolates
21:21academic research from market as visibility in a way that, uh, we are lacking of a pilot scale validation.
21:28Uh, because we work in silo. Sometimes, we do not have mass product because we can produce only one product.
21:33Uh,
21:34and then, we make sure that, uh, we can execute the product and become a prototype. But we, we do
21:39not know
21:39whether, uh, we can do it mass. So, we are lack of pilot scale validation. We are also missing in
21:45regulatory
21:45knowledge, some. And, uh, we also have the validation gaps because, uh, we don't know whether that is the market
21:52requirement or perhaps, maybe, uh, the user requirement. We do not know. And, uh, it becomes
21:58isolated testing environment. But I think there's, there's a lot of room for knowledge sharing as
22:03well with regards to, you know, how students or how, how talents are doing research at the same time,
22:09how investments are doing investments, right? There's a lot of crossover that you can sort of mitigate.
22:14And I think that's where Bitkom Invest Selangor comes in as well. Yes, yes. Um, right. So, I want to
22:19talk a little bit about foreign companies here because from the perspective of companies coming into
22:23Selangor, there's also an opportunity for them to tap into this ecosystem rather than simply just
22:28setting up operations here, right? So, how can foreign companies invest in Selangor, investing in Selangor,
22:34leverage on this sort of local universities and research institution to access these R&D capabilities,
22:41specialized experts, and also, you know, to develop new technologies here? Okay. Um, I think, uh,
22:49by, uh, getting the foreign investors, it would be a great, very great, uh, opportunity for local
22:56investors and also for the university. So, um, university, uh, especially your ITM, we can support foreign
23:04investors at several levels. Uh, first and foremost, first is access to expertise. Uh, we do have, like, uh,
23:11many expertise here because, uh, we do have, uh, researchers and we do have post-graded students.
23:17Instead of, uh, establishing every research capability internally, a company can collaborate with
23:24academics who may already have many years of specialized, uh, experience in particular area.
23:29For example, some areas that, uh, the recent one, for example, uh, semiconductor, if I may say, uh, we do,
23:36uh,
23:36we are given, uh, some amount of grant so that we can develop, uh, you know, the processes here, uh,
23:42as our
23:42uh, teaching and learning subjects and curriculum. And, uh, with the money, uh, with the fund money,
23:48we can secure or we can, uh, uh, procure a very good, uh, sophisticated equipment. So, some companies
23:54can come, can come here and invest in terms of, you know, some money to do some product or, uh,
24:00any innovation.
24:01But, uh, the second is to access, uh, to infrastructure. So, universities and research institutions,
24:07we do have laboratories specialized instruments, analytical facilities and pilot-scale equipment
24:12that companies may be able to, uh, leverage through collaborative, uh, arrangement.
24:18All right, Prof. Thank you so much, um, for your insights and for sharing all these opportunities
24:23available, not just from, you know, investors who are coming here, but also, um, for talents
24:28in UITM as well and researchers in UITM as well. Um, we have one last question in brief, do you
24:33think?
24:34How can Malaysia, particularly Selangor, move beyond being a user of foreign technologies
24:40to becoming a regional R&D and innovation hub where technologies are developed,
24:46commercialized, and scaled for regional and global market? Maybe your one last reflection on this.
24:51Okay, um, I think Farhana, um, this is ultimately the bigger ambition, yeah?
24:58Malaysia has been very successful in integrating into global manufacturing and technology supply change.
25:04But, uh, but we want more, yeah? The first step is to capture a greater share of knowledge
25:10and IP value chain. So, we do not want to manufacture only somebody else's technology.
25:17We also want Malaysian researchers, engineers, companies, and entrepreneurs to create technologies,
25:23own IP, commercialized solutions, and build globally competitive business.
25:27And then, uh, we hope that, um, we can share the pilot facilities, uh, to make sure that the risk,
25:35uh, is low.
25:36For example, we hope that if Selangor can provide more industry test beds, uh, to simulate real world, uh, stresses
25:45outside the sterile lab
25:47environment because, uh, in lab, uh, lab, uh, uh, environment, uh, we sometimes, we do not have the real test
25:54bed.
25:55So, uh, Farhana, uh, technology is only as valuable as its ability to be manufactured consistently,
26:02shared pilot facilities reduce the capital risk of adopting new innovations.
26:07Uh, we also wanted, uh, we do not want made in Malaysia. We want research in Malaysia or even,
26:15in fact, research in Selangor, made in Selangor, and we can go, uh, big global market or scale to, uh,
26:23global.
26:24All right. Thank you so much, Prof Ju, for your insights. And I think it's clear based on what you
26:29said, um,
26:30if Selangor is to continue attracting this high value investment, it's not just about bringing companies
26:35into the state, but also building the talent, research, and innovation ecosystem that allows
26:41them to flourish and grow and innovate here, right? Thank you so much, Prof, for, for joining us for
26:47this episode. Tune in to the next episode of Investment Insider. I'm your host, Farhana Shee. See you again.
27:12Farhana Shee. See you again.
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