Skill academy to boost Kerala’s MSME sector
September 14th, 2012 - 7:03 pm ICT by IANSKochi, Sep 14 (IANS) The Kerala government has decided to set up an international skill academy to boost the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). This was announced by the state Labour Minister Shibu Baby John here Friday.
Speaking at the Emerging Kerala-2012 Global Connect, John said quite a few players have already shown interest in the project.
According to him, training in construction would be a focal area of the academy, given the urgent need to keep pace with the state’s increasing urbanisation.
Second in priority would be imparting training in multi-skills such as retail and hospitality, he told delegates at a sectoral session on ‘MSME & Skills’ on the final day of the three-day summit.
“IT (Information Technology) will come next. The academy is conceived to fetch pass-outs high-end jobs on the one side and those like BPO (business process outsourcing) on the other,” John said.
Entrepreneurship education and training would also be provided at the academy, John said.
The minister pointed out that the government had recast the age-old employment exchanges into employability centres, which would first conduct an aptitude test.
The minister said that the Malayali ability for work was well known. “It was known to the world as early as in the 1960s, when Malayali nurses migrated upcountry and skilled labourers moved out to the Persian Gulf. But somewhere down we lost it, one reason being the below-par communication skills,” he said.
Amitabh Kant, CEO and managing director of the Delhi-Mumbai Investment Corridor Development Corporation, said that it was wrong to think that the people of the state generally lacked entrepreneurship talent. There were several successful Keralite businessmen abroad, Kant said.
He also said that there was no truth to the notion that Kerala lacked land for industrialisation. Kant said the state is of the size of Singapore and Hong Kong, which are among the world’s most advanced cities. He said vertical growth would be necessary for the development of the state.
- Smart City Kochi, Kerala government to float skill academy - Jan 23, 2012
- Kerala showcases opportunities to potential investors (Second Lead) - Sep 12, 2012
- Kerala's Onam gesture to migrant labour - Aug 23, 2012
- 50 innovation clusters to help MSMEs: Pitroda - Mar 28, 2012
- Welfare scheme for jobless Non-Resident Keralites - Jun 24, 2011
- CII to set up Centre for Excellence in Kerala - Jun 22, 2012
- Virbhadra Singh meets Yemen envoy - Mar 29, 2011
- 'Construction equipment industry needs more skilled workforce' - Nov 26, 2011
- Kerala to launch virtual classrooms in 34 ITIs - May 14, 2012
- Useless degrees making British youth unemployable - Aug 17, 2011
Tags: amitabh, aptitude test, baby john, business process outsourcing, businessmen, communication skills, corridor development, delegates, employment exchanges, entrepreneurship education and training, focal area, industrialisation, kerala government, labour minister, labourers, msme, persian gulf, shibu, size of singapore, small and medium enterprises