Human Resource Development

It is not just the advantage of processing natural resources or cheap labour, but the
availability of technology, manifested through a competitive, skilled and productive
industrial labour force and entrepreneurship which separates success from failure. Apart
for institutional excellence, the major sources of competitive advantage for a nation are
(i) people, their skills, and capacity for innovation, and (ii) technology, and the
knowledge on which it is based. The major source of long term productivity growth is
technological advance. No modern economy can sustain growth unless it makes
investments in human capital including formal education, training, and on-the-job
learning, embodied in the workforce.
In the drive to move vigorously ahead, highest priority will be given to the development
of human resources. The country has an average educational system which is not at par
with the required international standards. In order to achieve the vision and goal of an
industrialized and knowledge economy, the education system must be re-oriented and
upgraded to produce required knowledge workers, scientists and engineers of
international standards.
The country must aspire to the highest standards with regard to the skills of its people, to
their devotion to know-how and knowledge upgrading and self-improvement, to their
language competence, to their work attitudes and discipline, to their managerial abilities,
to their achievement motivation, to their attitude towards excellence, and to the fostering
of the entrepreneurial spirit.
The importance of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial development, which goes beyond
training and education, must not be neglected. An optimal mix must be ensured with
regard to professionals, sub-professionals, craftsmen and artisans, together with balance
with regard to those with competence in science and technology, the arts and social
sciences.
The MTDF (Medium Term Development Framework, 2005-10) will reduce the
skills and education gap and increase the scale and quality of human resources by policy
major emphasis on (i) investment in education, training (especially technical education),
together with lifelong learning, and adoption and diffusion of technology, (ii) upgrading
the educational system to produce knowledge workers, creative scientists, engineers, and
entrepreneurs, (iii) broad-based technical and vocational education and skill
development, including IT and computer literacy; (iv) emphasis on emerging fields in
biotechnology, microelectronics, nanotechnology, special alloys and materials, designer
molecules in chemistry and pharmaceuticals, and mechatronics, (v) encouragement of
research institutions to form strong and mutually beneficial linkages with industry, (vi)
embedding higher education and upgrading skills in all regions and groups throughout the
country, and (vii) encouraging private sector to bear part of the burden of investing in
quality education, skill development, and science and technology.