KUCHING: Higher learning institutions have been urged to serve the practical needs of the economy by unleashing creative thinking.
“In this, the local universities bear an important responsibility of ensuring that the workforce is prepared to meet the demands of economic change,” said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, who also pointed out that universities have always been traditionally perceived as being crucial for economic development.
He said this in his text speech read by Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah when she officiated at the opening of the First International Conference on Innovative Sciences and Technologies for Research and Education (InnoSTRE) 2018 at Riverside Majestic Hotel yesterday.
He said with the advent of the new millennium, universities are seen as more than crucial; they are now viewed as critical to economic development.
“As we all know, universities have always been credited with providing opportunities for youths to develop themselves and advance economically.
“It is readily conceded that university graduates can contribute greatly to a country’s economic development, and hence, to society.
“We view higher education in a global perspective and define the role of universities as a key to economic competitiveness,” he said.
He also said that this is due in large measure to faculty-conducted research which produces scientific breakthroughs in all fields, technology, industrial processes and production, agriculture; the list goes on.
“These breakthroughs serve as cornerstones to the economic success of a nation. In fact, universities play a critical role in securing a country’s future innovation, economic competitiveness and prosperity in a global economy,” he stressed.
He then said that it was exemplified in conferences where experts in their respective fields share and highlight the latest innovations in science and technology developments identify emerging and future trends of developments and form networks as they collaborate in these critical areas.
“It is heartening to note that this international conference, with its gathering of international experts in the field of innovative science and technologies will serve as a platform for us to advance towards this direction,” he concluded.
