Outcomes of Human Resource Development Interventions‪.‬

INTRODUCTION In Malaysia, human resource development plays an important role in the economic development of the country. Since the inception of the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3), one of the objectives of which was to build a knowledge-based workforce (29), the task of developing human resources has been an important part of the country's HRD agenda. The target of development is particularly focused towards the development of human resources in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for one third of the labour force in Malaysia. Moreover, manufacturing accounts for one third of the GDP and more than 70% of the country's exports and contributes significantly towards the country's economic growth (30). Indeed, it has been suggested that HRD enables productivity growth in the Asia Pacific region to be sustained or increased (34).