In collaboration with the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), the annual Development of Productivity Specialists (DPS) course was held in Kuala Lumpur, 6–17 November. A total of 26 participants from 17 APO member economies attended, comprising professional staff of NPOs, government training centers, academia, and SMEs. This DPS course was the second in a series after a similar online course was offered in March.

APO Director for Malaysia Dato’ Kamaruzzaman Johari applauded the APO’s efforts in assisting members to enhance NPOs’ capability through this course. He advised participants to take advantage of this opportunity to gain knowledge from international experts as well observe the best practices of the productivity movement in Malaysia. Director Dato’ Kamaruzaman also encouraged participants to maximize their time in Malaysia by exploring the country and understanding the culture and lifestyle of the multicultural nation.

The two-week course was facilitated byresource persons, one from the ROC, one from Japan, two from Malaysia, and one from Singapore. To gain experience as productivity specialists who can perform as competent consultants, participants were guided in conducting productivity diagnosis in selected local firms and later presented their observations and recommendation to the management. Hairul Mubarak Ibrahim, CEO of Victorious Step Sdn. Bhd., one of the firms participating in the exercises, praised the efforts of participants in presenting their observations and recommendations despite the limited time they spent in the factory. He planned to apply the productivity tools and techniques recommended.