MARA 60 years: Vision for the future

IEN was honoured to be invited as a panellist to mark the 60-year anniversary of MARA, and to discuss its future direction. Out of the 5-day MARA conference, this panel session focused on the program for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and on how MARA can strive towards achieving high-skilled human capital development under this program.

The panellists and moderator in this session were:

• Ir. Dr. Mahzan Bin Teh Deputy Director General of MARA

• Mr. Gregers Reimann Managing director of IEN Consultants Sdn Bhd - guest lecturer at UniKL over 15 year period - energy design consultant for the UniKL Sustainable Living Lab building

• Mr. Michele Dossi CEO of Fassi Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd. - opened welding training program for MARA TVET students at Fassi factory in Malaysia

• Prof. Ir. Dr. Azmi Bin Hassan (moderator) Deputy president of UniKL
  

To recap, MARA (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, the People's Trust Council) was established in 1966 as a Malaysian government agency focused on educational sponsorships, vocational training, technical education, and business funding, primarily for Bumiputera (Malays and other indigenous Malaysians).

The deputy director general of MARA, Ir. Dr. Mahzan Bin Teh, gave a good overview of the existing and upcoming TVET initiatives by MARA. Impressively, he also stated that MARA graduates have a 98% employment rate!

Some of the main topics discussed during the panel discussion were:

1. Ensuring that the TVET program becomes more attractive. There's currently a perception that the technical and vocational degrees lead to lower-paying jobs. This is not necessarily true. As mentioned by two international panellists, there's a lack of skilled workers in Europe and salaries for these qualifications are high.

2. Ensure close ties with industry, so the TVET graduates possess skills that are in demand on the job market. Formation of industry advisory boards that can assist to create industry-driven TVET teaching programs that also involves on-the-job training makes good sense in Malaysia, which is seeing a continued growth in the manufacturing sector.

3. Automation: Friend of foe. There is no doubt that the artificial intelligence, automation and robotics will be disruptive to the manufacturing sector, which needs to stay technologically abreast. Automation is a useful tool that can be used for some - but not all - processes. There will always be a need for human skills - and human intelligence!

Towards the end of discussion, the following poll was conducted among the audience:

"What are the most important factors in making the TVET the first choice for students?"

The poll results were:

32% [Higher salary and industry recognition]

31% [Training that matches industry needs]

26% [Clear career progression pathways]

11% [Better perception and image of TVET]

Gallery from event on 5 May 2026 @ Seri Pacific Hotel Kuala Lumpur:

Sambutan 60 tahun MARA. Celebration of MARA 60 year anniversary

Ir. Dr. Mahzan Bin Teh, Deputy Director General of MARA

Mr. Gregers Reimann, Managing director of IEN Consultants Sdn Bhd

Mr. Michele Dossi, CEO of Fassi Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd

Prof. Ir. Dr. Azmi Bin Hassan (moderator), Deputy president of UniKL

Panellists. Ir. Dr. Mahzan Bin Teh, Mr. Gregers Reimann, Mr. Michele Dossi. MARA TVET discussion

Poll results on TVET program, MARA. 5 May 2026

Group photo of speakers with audience. MARA 60 years. TVET session

Ir. Dr. Mahzan Bin Teh, Deputy Director General of MARA, and Gregers Reimann (IEN Consultants)

Gregers Reimann (IEN) handshake with Prof. Ir. Dr. Azman Senin, President of UniKL

MARA 60 years poster

MARA 60 years, conference program, 5 May 2026