IMI Chief Executive Officer, Steve Nash, speaking at the institute's conference, themed 'Upskilling to Meet Industry's Needs', said that Malaysia definitely has a strong potential to become the main regional training hub for electric vehicles, being ahead of other countries in the region with regard to electric vehicle adoption.
The IMI conference discusses the changing environment of the global automobile sector and the need to enhance capital management in order to meet the more sophisticated technology coming into the market alongside customer demand.
Mr Nash added that in order to cater to the growing demand for electric and hybrid cars, IMI is calling on the industry to place greater emphasis on training for energy-efficient vehicles (EEVs). The institute has been working closely with the Malaysian government since early last year in order to provide training support across a network of community colleges, placing increased emphasis on electric and hybrid vehicles in line with the goal of transforming the country into a regional EEV hub.
“We have always expected demand for electric or hybrid vehicles to rise as they become more sophisticated over time and with the growing public awareness for alternative-fuelled vehicles” he said. “The Kepala Batas Community College's Centre for Hybrid and Electric Vehicle in Penang and Pekan Community College in Pahang are among the IMI-approved centres which had started the process to equip technicians with new EEV skills since last year.”
There are currently 264 EEV-trained technicians in Malaysia but as the EV sector matures more technicians with EEV knowledge will be needed given that the sector requires knowledge of high-voltage electrical systems.
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