WASHINGTON: TalentCorp Malaysia is on the road again in its global search for skilled and talented Malaysians in the United States and Canada.

Its Chief Executive Officer Johan Mahmood Merican told Bernama here that Talent Corp's mission was not only to reach out and attract Malaysian graduates and experienced professionals overseas to seek opportunities back home, but also to persuade them to collaborate and share their knowledge with other Malaysians from wherever they are.

Johan said he understood that Malaysians abroad, an estimated one million of them, might not all come home for various reasons at this point, but they could still contribute to nation building, share their expertise, invest or engage in business with their fellow Malaysians, from their respective locations.

Johan and his TalentCorp team have so far ventured out to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to fulfill their mission this year.

In the US, the team had garnered the interest of about 300 Malaysian professionals working or with businesses in the fields of engineering, ICT, biotech, finance and medical research in Los Angeles and San Jose in California; Atlanta in Georgia; New York City and Washington DC since last Sunday.

Apart from plans to meet professionals in Dallas, Houston, Chicago and additionally in Edmonton, Canada, he Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad team had engaged in discussions with about 500 Malaysian students in the MidWest, including University of Michigan, Purdue University, Indiana, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Iowa State University, University of Minnesota and the Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey.

More interactions with Malaysians have been scheduled with students in 10 other universities, including those at Harvard University, MIT, Brown University and Cornell University plus students in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto in Canada. Their outreach in the US and Canada will culminate in a Career Fair on September 30 in Chicago.

Johan said he was pleased with the positive response from Malaysians abroad to the Returning Expert Programme (REP) where 1,192 applications had been approved since TalentCorp first administered the programme 18 months ago, which surpassed the 1,130 applications approved between 2001 and 2010.

The increase in the number of Malaysians returning under the REP indicated the success of TalentCorp's outreach programmes to Malaysians abroad in cooperation with private companies, Johan said. - Bernama http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...2320&sec=nation