. . . Malaysia offers training for civil servants

an offer announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Mr Najib Razak here on Mon- day.
Mr Razak said his government would soon offer short courses to African civil servants to help them understand and implement the model in their respective countries.

He said this while addressing a Press conference at the Cyberview Resort after meeting African leaders attending the 9th Langkawi International Dialogue (LID), who had shown strong interest in adopting Malaysia’s highly successful economic transformation programme.

Mr Razak hosted his African Smart Partners, including President Mugabe, behind closed doors for two hours at his government office complex during which the Minister in the Prime Minister Office, Mr Idris Jala, gave a presentation on Malaysia’s vaunted Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

The Prime Minister of Lesotho Mr Pakalitha Mosisili, Swaziland’s Prime Minister Mr Sibusiso Dlamini, Tanzanian President Mr Jakaya Kikwete and Kenyan Vice President Mr Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, among others also attended the briefing.

Following the presentation by Mr Jala, who doubles up as the chief executive of Malaysia’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit, the African leaders reportedly expressed interest in having their officers tapping into the Malaysian experie- nce.

“They (African leaders) are keen to send their officers over to learn about the programmes in-depth.
“They even want Mr Jala to visit their countries,” Mr Razak told reporters after emerging from the meeting.

Before the announcement of the offer, President Mugabe attended a retreat session along with the host Premier and other African leaders at the lakeside Cyberview Resort where they debated topics such as food and energy security as well as social media for transformation.

This session, the last involving the leaders on the second day of LID, was titled “The future of Smart Partnerships and LID”.
Mr Razak said the African also expressed an interest in having Malaysian tertiary education institutions setting up branch campuses in Africa with specific requests coming from Kenya and Tanzania.