Malaysia’s Chief Minister Dr. Kadir and Indian Minister Rao to address Sri Lanka’s Human Capital Sum

Dr. Abdul Kadir, the Chief Minister of Perak State, Malaysia, and Shri K. T Rama Rao, Minister for IT and Urban Development, Government of Telangana, are among a host of high profile speakers who will address the Sri Lanka Human Capital Summit that is to be held in Colombo next month. 

The Sri Lanka Human Capital Summit is expected to bring together a host of experts from the region and will be held on 11 and 12 August at the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will inaugurate the summit and will speak on ‘Sri Lanka as a Talent Capital’. Minister Rao will talk about ‘Building a Future Ready Workforce – The Indian Experience’ while Chief Minister Kadir will focus on ‘Human Capital Development as a Key Driver for Inclusive and Sustainable Development – The Malaysian experience’. 

The State of Perak, one of the 14 states in Malaysia also known as the ‘Land of Grace’, is marching ahead to economic progress. Various programmes dedicated to socio-economic development are being implemented in Perak State by Dr. Kadir who was appointed as the 11th Chief Minister of Perak, a state in West Malaysia, in 2009. His academic background includes a PhD in Political Thought from Temple University, Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree in Political Philosophy and Comparative Religion, also from Temple University. 

Dr. Kadir’s academic specialisation includes political economy, political thought, Southeast Asian contemporary politics, Malaysian politics and Islamic political thought. In addition to his political duties and responsibilities, he also currently serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Political Science Faculty at the International Islamic University, Malaysia. 

Minister Rao, Cabinet Minister for IT, E&C, MAUD, Industries and Commerce, Mines and Geology, Public Enterprises and NRI Affairs, has been representing Sircilla Assembly Constituency since 2009. 

Rao has a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology from Nizam College, Hyderabad. He has two post-graduate degrees – M.Sc. in Biotechnology from University of Pune and the other is MBA in Marketing and E-Commerce from Baruch College-City, University of New York. After completing his MBA, Rao worked as an IT Professional for six years from 2001 to 2006. As the IT Minister, Rao has launched several initiatives to address the needs of the IT industry.

Rao’s vision is to build Hyderabad as the largest centre for startups and entrepreneurship activities in India, called T-HUB. The sole target of this prestigious project is to have a tech ecosystem in Hyderabad and nurture the young and dynamic people as entrepreneurs. Rao is aspiring to make Telangana as the most investor-friendly state by providing the required facilities, and by removing the avoidable delays in any new project initiated in the state. 

Minister Rao also set up the Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) to addresses the problems of unemployment in Telangana. The aim of TASK is to provide/produce enough number of readily employable graduates in Telangana by improving their skills and knowledge. This initiative has helped bridge the gap between industry expectations and the available skills. 

Rao was responsible to make Hyderabad the first Wi-Fi enabled city in India, thus promoting Hyderabad as a global lifestyle destination. Hyderabad is today the second largest exporter of IT in the world.