A DOUBLE deduction on expenses for tourism-related training will be a part of the Covid-19 economic stimulus package, interim prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

This is to encourage employers to invest in raising human capital productivity through training despite a period of economic slowdown.

“Towards this, the government will provide double deduction on expenses incurred on approved tourism-related training,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

The government will provide up to RM100 million on a matching grant basis to the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to fund an additional 40,000 employees from the tourism and other affected sectors.

In addition to that, it will also provide RM50 million to subsidise short courses in digital skills and highly skilled courses, which is expected to benefit 100,000 Malaysians.

Malaysian workers who have been retrenched can also access the Employment Insurance System (EIS), which currently has a fund of RM1.1 billion.

“Furthermore, EIS will increase the claimable training cost from RM4,000 to RM6,000 for the affected sectors. A daily training allowance of RM30 per day will also be provided to trainees under EIS,” he said.

Dr Mahathir today announced a RM20 billion economic stimulus package to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak. – February 27, 2020.