The Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (Mranti ) thanked the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for including various initiatives to accelerate innovation-driven economy in the tabling of Budget 2024 last Friday.
Mranti chief executive officer Datuk Wira Dr Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff said many announcements in Budget 2024 are centred around mitigating an increasingly volatile global economic landscape, with focus on health, education and food security.
“We are confident that these steps are integral to accelerate Malaysia’s economic growth and realise its vision of becoming an inclusive high-tech nation via an innovation-driven economy,” he said in a statement recently.
Rais said it would also like to thank the Science, Technology and Innovation ministry for its continuous support towards developing an inclusive innovation ecosystem.
“We will continue to fulfill our role to accelerate more Malaysian technologies to market and raise the stature of our R&D for commercialisation.”
He said by increasing the nation’s income and output, and enhancing productivity collectively, Malaysia’s economy will be better positioned to ride out any uncertainties or disruptions caused by various global factors, facilitated by strong underlying fundamentals such as trade surplus, strong fiscal position and rising reserve.
With the budget, he said, the government has put its focus in enhancing the startup ecosystem, with a target to be the Top 30 nations in Global Innovation Index by 2025.
“To achieve this target, there must be a big push to accelerate the commercialisation of research and innovation. As always, the government’s support in terms of financing and tax relief is crucial to boost R&D and accelerate the development of the technology and innovation ecosystem,” Rais added.
Last Friday, Putrajaya has allocated RM28 million to develop MYStartup platform through the National Digital Economy and Fourth Industrial Revolution Council, which is set to improve the competitiveness of local startups towards achieving Top 20 ranking.
Rais welcomed the call for GLC and GLIC to support SMEs in “High Growth, High Value” fields with funding up to RM1.5 billion will be a boon to sectors in the digital economy and electrical and electronics.
“With RM1 billion in grants and loans made available, more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are expected to adopt technology and digitalisation, as this will help them increase their competitiveness locally and abroad.
“These initiatives are highly welcomed, and it is designed to ensure the sustainability of R&D in the country as the programmes are designed and optimised for targeted outcomes,” he said adding for far too long, Malaysia have been fixated only on inputs and outputs.
In Malaysia Madani Budget 2024, the governement has taken the feedback from stakeholders, namely academics, researchers, corporates and the community at large, to provide a launchpad to expedite commercialisation.
Aside from that, the government, Rais said, he Government has given a clear signal of its intent to develop the sectors of electrical and electronics, aerospace as well as drone and robotics with an allocation of RM10 million.
“Mranti is humbled and proud to continue spearheading the development of DroneTech and Robotics. Malaysia’s drone industry is flying high after ranking 21st in the Drone Readiness Index (DRI), up from 30th spot last year.
“It is also the top ranked Southeast Asian country in the Index. The country’s core readiness for drones improved by 29 percentage points in the DRI, as it hit 60% – up from 31% the previous year – a clear indicator of the country’s commitment to fast track its potential in drone technology.”
The Malaysia Drone Tech Action Plan 2022 – 2030 (MDTAP30), a national agenda developed to support the drone ecosystem by Mosti, is expected to generate US$11.44 billion GDP and 100,000 jobs by 2030 and will cover the development of projects to pilot the Unmanned Traffic Management System in Malaysia.
“The expansion of the national 5G network, and the increase of its accessibility and availability, will no doubt spur the effort to develop emerging technologies. The deployment of 5G is expected to contribute significantly to Malaysia’s economy, potentially uplifting the GDP by RM122 billion and creating 750,000 new jobs by 2030,” Rais said, adding Mranti Park has also implemented its own 5G Experience Centre, a government-led initiative designed for prototyping, testing, and development of 5G technologies.
Rais added, for Budget 2024, other governments moves welcomed were the nation’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) research centre in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), the strengthening human capital in R&D and the allocations of RM 27 million to Mosti’s MySTI, a program to enhance the utilisation of product and services from local R&D, which will help to boost the local utilisation of goods and services.
