KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has launched iTEKAD Employment on Tuesday, in efforts to help individuals from vulnerable communities gain stable employment and income.
The initiative, unveiled during Sasana Symposium 2026, will connect participants with skills training, financial education, job placement assistance, and financial solutions through collaborations involving financial institutions, funding partners, training providers and corporate employers.
In his keynote speech at the event, the central bank governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said creating better jobs and equipping Malaysians with the skills to fill them is central to ensuring the benefits of economic growth are more widely shared.
“The most direct way for growth to be felt is through better jobs,” he said.
iTEKAD Employment expands the existing iTEKAD social finance initiative beyond entrepreneurship and financial protection.
Under the programme, participants receive a support package that includes training of soft skills and upskilling activities. They may also gain support for accommodation and monthly or meal allowance. There will be a track towards job employment at participating collaborators or financial institutions.
WATCH: Malaysia launches iTEKAD Employment
While investment projects could generate thousands of higher-skilled positions, Malaysians must have the capabilities to take on those roles as technology and artificial intelligence reshape the labour market, Abdul Rasheed said.
“Creating jobs is only half the equation. Malaysians must also have the skills to step into them. At present, more than two thirds of Malaysians continue to be employed in low skilled or mid-skilled roles,” he added.
Bank Islam, Bank Muamalat, CIMB Islamic, Maybank Islamic, Public Islamic Bank, RHB Islamic Bank, and SME Bank, are among the financial institutions listed under iTEKAD Employment.
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