Malaysia's performance in clinical research is good but all relevant stakeholders believe that the country has better potential. Although Malaysia has the right attractions, the country has to reshape the entire spectrum of its industry before it can be a favourable spot for clinical research activities in the region. And to do this, the Economic Transformation Programme for clinical research has included the following ten strategies:

1) Transform the Ministry of Health's contract research unit: The ministry's clinical research center incorporates a unit for contract research (a one-stop center). With economic transformation in place, this unit will be corporatized to improve coordination of the industry-sponsored clinical research industry in Malaysia. To ensure financial transparency, this corporatized entity, known as Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM), will act as the clearing house for funds. It will also be the center for business development, training and marketing. Moreover, all other strategies will be implemented through CRM.

2) Increase clinical research sites in the Ministry of Health, university and private hospitals. Malaysia has over 300 hospitals that can serve as trial sites.

3) Create a pool of investigators and site coordinators. This will be done by addressing the lack of research culture and finding ways to incorporate protected time to conduct research within the healthcare system and the allocation of time for training.