R&D way forward for nation

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs to focus on the importance of research and development (R&D) and innovation to be a developed and high-income nation, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said in line with the National Transformation 2050 programme, the time has come for innovation to propel Malaysia to attain standards such as in other major world economies that also focused on knowledge, innovation, skills and expertise.

“While the country’s R&D against the Gross Domestic Product has risen from 1.26% in 2014 to 1.3% in 2015, it is still low compared to some other developed countries.

“In addition to government-funded R&D, the private sector should also strive to increase spending to support these R&D activities,” he said when officiating at the National Innovation And Creative Economy Expo yesterday.

Ahmad Zahid said focus should also be given to conducting research in line with the priorities and requirements of the industry through strategic collaboration between government, industry stakeholders and academics.

He said the platform is able to offer specialist services to solve production problems and strengthen cooperation between producers and research institutions as well as reduce R&D implementation costs, enhance technical knowledge and improve work processes.

Innovation also played an important role in increasing productivity of the country’s economic sectors and knowledge-based activities, he said.

“We will fail as a government, a society and a nation if we fail to exploit science, technology and innovation. The solution to almost all our problems is science and technology rather than politics.

“There are so many technologies, but we have failed to use them to advance the nation.

“The reason is that we do not think scientifically, we are lazy to think and sometimes stop thinking. We separate science from our policies,” he said.

The five-day expo, that began yesterday at the National Science Centre and Planetarium, is the nation’s largest science, technology and innovation exhibition. – Bernama