PUTRAJAYA – A total of 386 Malaysian technology products and services have been successfully commercialised, generating RM402 million in revenue, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said this had surpassed the government’s target set under Budget 2016, where it aimed to commercialise 360 products and technologies from government-funded research and development by 2020.
“An innovation-centred economy will shape an active, highly resilient, and competitive society, boosting the country's reputation to a globally respectable level.
“Malaysians not only need to be proficient in using technology, but to also be capable of being creators and developers of technology," he said.
Khairy said this when launching the Malaysian Commercialisation Year (MCY) Summit 2020, which takes place virtually from today to tomorrow on the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry’s official Facebook page today.
Citing the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020, he said that out of 37 upper-middle income countries, Malaysia ranked as the second most innovative country after China; the eighth out of 17 countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania; and 33rd in the overall GII 2020 rankings compared with 35th in 2019.
Khairy said that in terms of quality, Malaysia's innovation output is comparable to those of high-income economies, however, the country still shows a low efficiency level with an output lower in comparison with investment or input.
He said the government is therefore emphasising return on investment on R&D spending, and creating more demand-driven R&D to be adopted by the industry and to propel Malaysia to the top 20 of the index by 2030.
At the same time, Khairy said that R&D gross expenditure may be increased from 1.04% to 3.5% and business expenditure may be raised from 43.9% to 70% by 2030, while experimental development research may be increased to 50% from 24.5% by 2025.
Khairy said the MCY initiative has helped increase the visibility of local R&D products, technologies, and services in the global market, while simultaneously strengthening Malaysia's position in the competitive market. – Bernama, December 17, 2020
