PM: Explore other avenues Intellectual property could be a new source of wealth, says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must work harder to make intellectual property its new source of wealth, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“We must double our efforts to boost the non-traditional economic activities. As a high income nation, we need to ensure our economy remains competitive and, to do so, we must look at growth that is based on intangible assets,” said Najib.

Having this in mind would encourage people to explore their own ingenuity and creativity to churn out creations of high commercial value, he said at the National Intellectual Property 2015 award presentation at the Putra World Trade Centre.

This, he said, was also in line with the Government’s aspiration to ensure Malaysia continued to be com­petitive and, in order to do so, intellectual property could be used as the country’s new wealth creation.

The Prime Minister said Malay­sians should emulate countries which had successfully created new wealth through innovative creations, citing South Korea as an example of a nation which had successfully done this.

He said South Korea’s success was not only limited to intellectual property related to technology and telecommunications but also in the creative industry through films and the phenomenal K-pop.

The Prime Minister said that as a diverse nation, Malaysia too should further boost its export on arts, culture and creative works.

At a later event yesterday, Najib also unveiled a five-year blueprint Construction Industry Transforma­tion Programme (CITP) to improve the construction industry by 2020.

He said the CITP would cover four thrusts – quality, safety and professionalism, environmental sustainability, productivity, and internationalisation.

“The CITP is a comprehensive implementation plan which encompasses 18 initiatives.

“Each of the four strategic thrusts seeks to transform and improve public and international image of the industry,” he said at the launch of the International Construction Week 2015 here.

Among the main push, he said, was the adoption of the Quality Assessment System in Construction or QLASSIC to measure the quality of workmanship in the industry.

“The CITP targets to make QLASSIC a mandatory element in all government projects by 2018,” he said.

On safety and health, Najib said more stringent requirements would be introduced to ensure accidents and fatalities in the industry would be significantly reduced.

On environment and sustainabi­lity, Najib said a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Construction would be established in line with making Malaysia a model for the industry, particularly among Asean nations.