THE MALAYSIAN TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAM (MTCP) was officially launched on September 7, 1980 at the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting in New Delhi, India, to signify Malaysia’s commitment to South‐South cooperation, in particular Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC).
In line with the spirit of South‐South Cooperation, MTCP is considered as a bilateral technical cooperation programme with an objective to share development experiences with other developing countries. This “prosper‐thy‐neighbour” philosophy is the underlying basis for the MTCP. The programme was first formulated based on the belief that the development of a country depends on the quality of its human resources. The programme provides various forms of technical cooperation in areas where Malaysia has the experience and expertise. The MTCP emphasises on the development of human resources through the provision of training in various areas which are essential for a country’s development such as public administration, agriculture, poverty alleviation, investment promotion, ICT, banking and English language.
Beginning 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Malaysia is responsible for the administration and coordination of MTCP activities. The MTCP emphasises the development of human resources through the provision of training in various areas which are essential for a country’s development. Annually, more than 80 MTCP Programmes are offered by approximately 80 MTCP training institutions/agencies, many of which are centres of excellence for training. Since its inception, MTCP has gained more than 32,000 participants from 143 countries.
The objectives of MTCP are as follows: