KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is targeting to increase its ranking in the Global Innovation Index from the current 36th position to the top 20.
Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) chief executive officer (CEO) Dzuleira Abu Bakar said this is possible through concerted effort from all agencies responsible for this task.
“We have a target to bring up the ranking to the top 20. And that is something that needs to be achieved the soonest.
“This global innovation rank is a combination of multiple things – talent readiness, the innovation ecosystem, infrastructure, what we are trying to fix, policies, and friendliness in receiving and taking in foreign investments as well as domestic investments.
“So it’s a combination of multiple factors which is a responsibility of many agencies. It’s a collective national responsibility in terms of elevating our innovation ranking,” said Dzuleira who is former CEO of the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC).
Malaysia ranks 36th out of 132 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII) Report 2022 issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Wipo) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Based on the report, Malaysia is the third most innovative country after China and Bulgaria in the upper-middle income economies category.
As for Asean countries, Malaysia remains in second place after Singapore.
The country is in the first position for two indicators – high-tech exports and creative goods exports.
Dzuleira who was appointed by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) in April 2021 to lead MaGIC’s merger with Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) to accelerate the commercialisation of innovations – from ideas to impact – and thus MRANTI described the merger as a convergence or consolidation of entities.
“Which means there are lesser inefficiencies, creating a little bit more focus for the industry and a one-stop centre.
“The way we were organised in the past, multiple agencies were set up by the government to promote local talent, the industry, investments, and funding but I think we have one too many agencies. It made sense to consolidate so focus will be given and redundancies in terms of programs can be reduced.
“Now, MRANTI will be a one-stop centre offering commercialisation support for technology companies,” said Dzuleira, a trained lawyer in an exclusive interview on Top Guns’ Power Lunch. She has also held top positions including vice president at Khazanah Nasional Bhd and CEO of Cradle Seed Ventures (CSV).
Dzuleira looks at her foray into tech as an “accidental destiny”.
“It opened my eyes to the potential and after that, I got into venture capital and was introduced into this entire world of investing and this is probably 15 to 16 years ago. So, I look back into the work that I have done and the journey I have had and I find myself feeling very grateful for that accidental journey,” she added.
It was within two years with MaGIC under her leadership that the organisation achieved RM760 million in total value creation, impacted 26,327 participants via their various programmes, and secured five international partnerships.
As the world finally moves into the endemic stage, Dzuleira is setting her sights on accelerating MRANTI into full force, and that includes seeing her vision for Malaysia’s very first Artificial Intelligence Park come to fruition.
In doing so, Dzuleira has also created waves as a woman leading the technology revolution in Malaysia, a sector which is known to be dominated by males.
“Why should gender matter at all? What matters are capabilities, the values that you bring and the ability to see things through,” said Dzuleira who admits that gender is used as an excuse not to give women a representation.
On the work-life balance philosophy, Dzuleira believed that it does not exist and the reality is to strike a balance in everything that one does.
“It’s impossible to achieve life-work balance because if you need to do something and give it your all, sometimes it (takes) 24 hours a day, but you (also) need to take time for yourself – do things that make you happy.
“Occasionally I do my yoga, pilates, take walks with friends during the weekend, hike, and recently, I have picked up tennis. That’s how I destress and of course, read a good book,” she said. – The Vibes, January 18, 2023
