CYBERJAYA: Malaysia continues to strengthen its position as a regional leader in science, technology and innovation (STI) through the hosting of the Cyberjaya Conversations Summit (CCS) 2025, a strategic platform that recently brought together government leaders, industry players, academia and regional organisations.
The summit provided an important forum to deliberate Asean’s future direction towards greater competitiveness, inclusivity and sustainability, against the backdrop of increasingly complex global challenges and evolving regional development needs.
Recently, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. said Asean must strengthen its collective innovation ecosystem and avoid working in silos to sustain growth and resilience in the coming decade.
He said innovation has become the new currency of competitiveness, the foundation of economic resilience and the engine of regional growth.
Ahmad Zahid said the Asean Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation (A-PAS-TI) 2026-2035 is central to this effort as it aligns policy, research, capital and talent towards a shared innovation agenda.
As for the event in Cyberjaya, in an interview with the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Rushdi Abdul Rahim (inset-pic), discussions at the summit reflected an integrated approach that aligns with the Malaysia MADANI framework.
“As a country playing a leading role in the development of the Asean Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation (APASTI) 2026–2035, Malaysia adopts a pragmatic approach that prioritises the interests of smaller countries and rural communities to ensure they are not left behind in the rapidly evolving innovation landscape.
“Through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, this perspective has been embedded from the policy planning stage to ensure balanced and inclusive implementation.
“This approach is further underpinned by the Malaysia MADANI framework, which emphasises cross-sector collaboration involving government, industry, civil society and grassroots communities through a whole-of-nation approach,” he said.
Among the key outcomes of CCS 2025, Rushdi highlighted the potential of the Malaysia and Indonesia Grand Challenge as a pilot model for regional cooperation based on co-creation. The initiative brings together academic expertise, industrial capabilities and government policy support to address shared challenges such as food security, clean energy, climate change and the development of new technologies.
“This initiative also presents opportunities to be expanded at the Asean level through the Asean Grand Challenge concept, thereby accelerating joint research efforts and the translation of innovation into the marketplace,” he added.
Rushdi noted that with Asean aiming to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030, cross-border collaboration in innovation is becoming increasingly critical.
“Links between regional innovation hubs must be strengthened strategically through the principles of thinking big, starting small and acting fast. This approach enables pilot projects to be implemented more rapidly, assessed for effectiveness and scaled up to a wider level.
“Data sharing, joint research and capacity-building programmes are also viewed as key enablers in Asean’s transition towards a knowledge-based and high value-added economy,” he said.
Discussions at CCS 2025 also underscored the growing importance of science diplomacy in addressing global challenges. Malaysia continues to play an active role in advocating the interests of developing countries, particularly on issues related to climate change, transboundary haze, deforestation and biodiversity loss, as well as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and rare earth elements (REE).
In this context, MIGHT, in collaboration with private institution UCSI University, is refining plans to establish an Asean Science Diplomacy Platform to support research coordination, data sharing and policy collaboration among Asean member states.
Commenting on the global space economy, which is projected to reach US$1.8 trillion by 2035, Rushdi said the sector presents significant opportunities for Malaysia and ASEAN, particularly in satellite data applications for smart agriculture, disaster management and rural telecommunications, as well as satellite component manufacturing.
“MIGHT has published Navigating Malaysia’s Space Frontier 2024/2025 as a strategic guide for the national space industry and has established the Malaysia Space Industry Consortium (MASIC) to strengthen industrial collaboration, with technical support from the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA).
“To drive ASEAN’s digital integration, MIGHT also emphasises the F.I.R.S.T approach, encompassing finance, infrastructure, regulation, skills and technology. While progress has been made in infrastructure development and talent growth, policy differences among member states remain a key challenge that requires collective Asean commitment to address,” he said.
Meanwhile, the role of the private sector as a key driver of regional innovation continues to be strengthened through the Technomart Malaysia platform, which brings together technology companies, startups, investors and universities.
Collaboration programmes such as the Malaysia and Scotland Technomart, the Malaysia and Japan Space Technology Collaboration and the Malaysia and Türkiye Technology Collaboration have provided platforms for technology and business matching, project presentations and the formation of high-impact strategic partnerships.
“Overall, CCS 2025 has demonstrated its potential as a sustained regional dialogue platform, with participation from 1,600 attendees, extensive mainstream media coverage and strong engagement from industry, youth and academia across Asean. This, in turn, reinforces Malaysia’s role in shaping a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for regional STI,” he said. -- Info from Bernama/Agencies
