Need for qualified talent

There are certain key areas where Malaysia needs to build on, such as human resource and qualified talent, participation of domestic companies and higher innovation.

"Malaysia lacks biotechnologists and qualified staff with PhDs in genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, medical microbiology and post-doctoral research experience. More focus on building human capital in the biotechnology industry requires training in the manufacturing and production cycle to achieve or accomplish international standards. This will become a great hindrance to expansion plans of healthcare biotechnology in the country," points out Dr Bagali.

Mr Kishore says Malaysia will have to beef up the extent and rate at which the big corporations within the country are sponsoring innovation. "Initial investments in R&D appear as an expense and are a drain on profit, and institutions have done extraordinarily well with a very focused 'near term' oriented R&D. But the global technological landscape has changed dramatically during the last decade and the pace of innovation will only accelerate," he says. "For companies to attract investors and deliver a superior return on investment, it will be important to leverage on R&D - both internal and external and acquisitions that boost innovation intensity of both products and processes within the company, and tap into innovation irrespective of its origins."

He opined that the country has to attract both foreign and knowledge capital in a globally competitive manner and the established institutions within the country will have to pay greater attention to these aspects. Policies that are not conducive to investments in innovation and rapid deployment of innovation have to be routinely addressed at both national and regional levels.

Malaysia is working hard to make the country an attractive destination and this will require leadership execution at political, business and educational institutions, patience and perseverance.