LYON (France), Malaysia intends to increase the number of entries in the next edition of the WorldSkills Competition (WSC), especially through new skill areas, said Deputy Minister of Human Resources Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad. The Malaysia Chef de Mission (CDM) for the WSC 2024 said this would help to produce more skilled and quality youth from the country. He expressed the importance of the competition as it can unearth the country's talents and provide good job opportunities for them. "I have instructed the officers concerned to prepare a working paper to improve our participation...we increase our participation, to improve Malaysia's participation at the WorldSkills Competition, " he told Bernama when observing the preparation by the 15 Malaysian participants at the WSC 2024 at Eurexpo here yesterday. Also present was Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Rubiah Wang. Abdul Rahman said among the new skill areas that Malaysia could participate in are water technology, cyber sec urity, digital marketing, software developments. Meanwhile, Rubiah opined that Malaysian youth have the potential to shine in the new skill areas at the next WSC. "We have the potential, not only in the 14 fields but also in other clusters, including water technology or helicopter maintenance. Abdul Rahman and Rubiah hoped that the Malaysian participants, comprising 15 highly skilled youths, in the WSC 2024 would be able to make the country proud and achieve the target of winning three medals. The WSC 2024, held from Sept 10 to 15, brings together 1,400 competitors from over 70 countries and regions to compete in 62 skill categories. Malaysia is participating in 14 categories, including Robotic System Integration, IT Software Solutions for Business, Heavy Vehicle Technology and Digital Construction. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, when announcing Malaysia's participation in the event, was reported as saying that it would allow the country to explore various technologies and best practices in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector at an international level. Source: BERNAMA News Agency