Sabah-PETRONAS Human Capital Development Agenda to Build Talent Pipeline for Energy Sector

KOTA KINABALU, 26 August 2022 – PETRONAS today launched the Sabah-PETRONAS Human Capital Development Agenda (HCDA) to intensify joint initiatives with Sabah State Government and rally greater collaboration among stakeholders in building a sustainable talent pipeline for the state and the nation.

The HCDA will establish a structured and innovative framework of initiatives curated to support Sabahan talents through different stages of learning to reach their full potential in contributing towards the advancement of the state, particularly for Sabah’s energy sector.

The Agenda was presented today to the State Minister of Local Government and Housing and State Minister of Finance II, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun by PETRONAS Chairman, Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh at the launch event, together with PETRONAS President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik.

The event was also attended by PETRONAS Senior Vice President of Project Delivery and Technology, Bacho Pilong and Head of Human Capital Investment, Group Human Resource Management, Syed Mohamad Muhafiz Syed Bakar.

Tan Sri Mohd Bakke said, “We are proud to work with the Sabah State Government to co-create a human capital development ecosystem that continues to build a robust talent pipeline for the state’s growth in the energy landscape. With the launch of the HCDA, we hope to nurture an ecosystem that effectively inculcates interest, provides equal opportunities and advances the expertise of Sabahan talents.

“With programmes and facilities in place, I am certain that even more Sabahan talents will rise to the occasion to support Sabah’s energy aspirations.”

Focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning, the HCDA is aimed at nurturing knowledgeable and skilled talents to support delivery of the state’s social, economic, and sustainability goals.

Initiatives under the Agenda will leverage on PETRONAS’ current human capital development ecosystem encompassing Institut Teknologi Petroleum PETRONAS (INSTEP), Petrosains, Yayasan PETRONAS, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) and others, strengthened with a spectrum of new programmes focusing on Sabah demographics, including a recently concluded second edition of the BeDigital Bootcamp that aimed to improve participants’ digital entrepreneurship and leadership skills.

At the event, PETRONAS also announced that over 100 Sabahan top achievers for SPM 2021 have been offered the PETRONAS Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) this year. Since 2003, 568 outstanding Sabahan students, including 177 currently in the programme, have benefitted from sponsorships valued at RM53.2 million, to pursue a range of subjects at UTP and other renowned universities locally and abroad.

Meanwhile Universiti Malaysia Sabah and UTP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly strengthen their energy-related modules based on industry needs, and to raise the intake of Sabahan students in technical subjects.

A second MoU was also signed between PETRONAS Global Technical Solutions Sdn Bhd and Sabah Energy Corporation Sdn Bhd to collaborate in the areas of technical capability building and programme certification towards nurturing technically competent and skilled talent in the energy industry.