Despite the relatively lower set target than the major countries in terms of GERD per GDP, Malaysia R&D expenditure as a share of GDP figure is trending upwards consistently as shown in the table below. By the year 2020, with the target of at least 2.0% of GDP, GERD in the space of twelve years had increased in terms of percentage of GDP by almost 150% from 2008, which was at 0.79% of GDP.
One of the potential areas for improvement is having a procurement framework between governmental venture capital (GVC) organisations and government departments and ministries. GVCs like Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) invested hundreds of millions ringgits in investee companies over at least the last two decades. These investee companies are at varying business stages including early and mature with few of them championing cutting edge technologies, while whereas, quite a number of them provide replicable technologies carried by international and reputable technology vendors. Since Malaysia is spending to the tune of billions of ringgits on technology-based products and services on an annual basis, a dedicated procurement framework would allow mature investee companies to further build their credential and reputation before going out becoming- world class technology companies. National Regulatory Sandbox which was created in February 2018 can be the platform to test the viability of having dedicated procurement policy between investee companies of GVC and the Government. The National Regulatory Sandbox secretariat champions National Regulatory Sandbox, jointly manned by the National Strategic Unit (NSU) at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), together with the Futurise Centre @ Cyberview and Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) to create opportunities to further develop, accelerate and promote collaboration between entrepreneurs, corporations, regulators and the government.
Malaysia R&D Expenditure As A Share Of GDP
1.40%
1.50%
1.30%
1.30% 1.30%
1.00%
1.00%
1.00%
1.10%
1.00%
0.70%
0.60%
0.80%
0.50%
0.50%
0.60%
0.00%
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2014
2015
2016 2017
GERD as % of GDP
0.50 0.70 0.60 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.10 1.30 1.30 1.40 1.30
Change,% 0 39.14 -8.07 1.86 29.03 28.1 2.58 -0.26 5.76 15.56 3 10.53
Source: Knoema Although Malaysia spends more money on R&D, with Finland as a case example, Malaysia produces far fewer innovations as Finland spends three times less than Malaysia but produces more innovations. Are we getting value for money out of the money spent? Looking at the trends, many leading innovation countries are focusing on generating marketable products and services through collaboration with industries for better links to the economy and market demand. The National Policy on Science, Technology & Innovation 2013 – 2020 (NPSTI) has six strategic thrusts that provide the building blocks for a dynamic innovation-led economy in Malaysia. Suffice to say, Malaysia looks good on paper with proper plan, policy and governance. The challenge is to execute those plans and policy and, govern the ensuing activities. The government departments and ministries and, business enterprises must forge even closer cooperation than they are today.
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Malaysian Technology Strategic Outlook 2019/2020 Intergration of High Technology
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