On the education front, BEM places great emphasis in ensuring the right standards and competence of local universities when offering engineering courses. In this context, BEM has set up the Engineering Accreditation Council( EAC) for 16 years now, since its inception in 2000. BEM through the EAC conducts accreditation of engineering degree programmes offered by institutions of higher learning within Malaysia. Accreditation is done by evaluators, from both academia and industry / practice. The evaluators visit the institutions to assess the curriculum, facilities and the quality management system and interview management, academic and support staff, students and industry stakeholders.
The BEM accreditation process is necessarily rigorous and benchmarked against international best practice, which since 2009 has allowed Malaysia to be a full signatory of the Washington Accord. To date 294 engineering programmes from 39 local universities and four foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia have been accredited.
With the Washington Accord status, Malaysian engineering programmes are now recognised as substantially equivalent to the best in the world. It also means that these universities can market their products better outside Malaysia. The Washington Accord label is a symbol of quality in engineering education, but more importantly it has become an effective driver for continuous quality improvement, for engineering schools to excel in their delivery of engineering education.
Taking cognisance of the demand from the industry and the rapid changes in technology development, the Malaysian Government has produced an Education Blueprint 2015 – 2025. This Blueprint emphasises, among others, an industry-centric education approach whereby industry champions will be invited to participate in selected university education modules.
In the same vein, Malaysia is also promoting a strong pool of professionals in the Technical, Vocational, Education and Training( TVET) sector to support these industries. With the important role of TVET in supporting industrial growth and innovation, BEM will work towards its education meeting the appropriate standards set by IEA, that is for engineering technologists and technicians. It is thus our intention to apply to become signatories of both the Sydney and Dublin Accords.
This effort, we believe, will assist in positioning Malaysia as the nation of choice in the setting up of high tech industries in the region. Malaysia is strategically located in the middle among ASEAN nations, and along the much promoted Maritime Silk Road. Hence we are expected to attract more Foreign Direct Investment( FDI) from the surrounding region, particularly China. There are already several such industries that have set foot in Malaysia. For example, we are currently the third largest photovoltaic( PV) manufacturing hub in the world after China and Taiwan, with an annual production capacity of 9,043MW and employing 13,000 people.
The recently launched US $ 2 billion Regional Centre for China Railway Engineering Corporation( CREC) in Bandar Malaysia Kuala Lumpur will cater for all South East Asian countries. CREC is one of the largest railway construction companies in the world. Huawei Technologies has also chosen Malaysia as the regional hub for South East Asia. The list goes on and this merely demonstrates the confidence of multinational companies in Malaysia’ s ideal investment environment, including adequacy of the local talent pool to support the industry and ease of doing business, for which Malaysia is ranked very highly.
Once again, Selamat Datang to Malaysia. The secretariat will endeavour to make your stay as comfortable as possible. If you need any assistance, the secretariat will be most happy to assist in any way we can to make your stay in Malaysia a memorable one.
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