Mosti To Look Into Ways To Commercialise Products, Produce More Technopreneurs

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) will look into ways to encourage more commercialisation of products innovated by local inventors, said its deputy minister Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Md Diah.

Source from (Bernama): http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/bu/newsbusiness.php?id=951544
Published: May 23, 2013

Source from (The Malaysian Insider): http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/mosti-to-look-into-ways-to-commercialise-products-produce-more-technopreneurs/
Published: May 23, 2013

He said the ministry would also look to train more technopreneurs who not only know how to invent but also to commercialise and market their inventions.

He said despite Malaysia having invested heavily in science, technology and innovation (STI) research and development (R&D) and its competitiveness also globally recognised, those products were not translated into commercial value.

"I think that should be the focus now. I will propose to my Minister about this issue. There is no use that we invented so many products and just get it patented, but (there's) no money coming in.

"Those products ended up sitting on the shelves," he told reporters after the opening ceremony of the Intenational Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) Fifth Anniversary Conference near here today.

Abu Bakar said for instance, the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13 had ranked Malaysia 23rd out of 144 nations, while ranking it 28th for the quality of Scientific Research Institutions and 34th for its patents per population ratio.

He added the Institute of Management Development (IMD) survey on the competitiveness of 59 economies released in 2011 ranked Malaysia 35th in private R&D funding as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and 38th in total GDP expenditures on R&D.

Meanwhile, Abu Bakar said the ministry hoped to enhance STI curriculum in the national education system aimed at inculcating long-term interests among school students in STI.

He said currently the 40:60 ratio of science to non-science in the national school curriculum was insufficient.

Efforts to bridge the STI knowledge gap between students in rural areas and urban peers should also be stepped up, he added.

-- BERNAMA