KUALA LUMPUR: The private sector can assist research and development (R&D) initiatives in the country through the provision of venture capital funding, endowment and international sources, says Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) said entrepreneurs and the private sector must champion R&D initiatives to spur sustainable economic growth.
"This is crucial in the effort to meet Malaysia's gross domestic product expenditure on R&D (GERD) target of 2.5% by 2025.
"Based on World Bank data, Malaysia' GERD score stood at 1.04% in 2018 while South Korea and Japan recorded 4.52% and 3.22% respectively in the same year.
"Around 70% of R&D expenditure must come from the private sector," he said in a pre-recorded video at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) seminar at UCSI University themed "Malaysia's R&D: Where is the nation's research headed to?" here on Thursday (Oct 27).
He added that only around 5% of the 5,435 Malaysian start-ups established from 2010 to 2020 are technology-based.
As such, he said more could be done to foster great collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs and industry.
Mustapa also said Malaysia's research landscape differed from advanced nations that were industry-driven, as almost 80% of the country's R&D is led by higher education institutions.
Meanwhile, Economic Planning Unit (EPU) director of the manufacturing, science and technology division Datuk TSV Valluven Veloo said that Malaysia has some 1.4 million micro and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are important to the country as they are the backbone of the economy.
The seminar was jointly organised by the Research Management Unit (RMU), EPU and UCSI to raise public awareness and engage key stakeholders, particularly from the private sector.
