KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Innovation would serve as a societal equaliser and growth engine for Malaysia to revitalise the economy as the country has the right conditions prepared, in the form of reliable infrastructure, committed resources, adaptable workforce and political will.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said studies have shown that a 1.0 per cent increase in innovation capacity is estimated to increase the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.36 per cent.

"Between 1967 and 1999, Malaysia’s sustained annual growth rate of 9.0 per cent made us one of the fastest growing countries in modern history. As we all know, the growth rate that followed after that was lower, and we risk not catching up fast enough with our peers transitioning into a high-income nation if innovation is not central to what we do.

"Mastering technology and innovation is a game changer to our society as more people will be able to access high-quality solutions at lower costs, and an uplift to our economy so that we move up the value chain with better products, processes and jobs,” he said at the launch of the Malaysia Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) here today.

To do this, he said, the government needed to create as many collaboration channels as possible.

"Innovation is a team sport. That’s why the most successful innovators come out with their best ideas when they bring cross-functional teams together to brainstorm in a dedicated space, applying constraints of time and resources, to decide what ideas to keep and what to remove.

"That is why the C4IR comes at the right time as we stand at the point of acceleration. The C4IR will serve as a focal point between the public and private sectors to problem-solve and pilot projects, besides serving as a knowledge centre where top experts, innovators, and policymakers congregate to share their insights. While the space matters, the people who occupy it matter more,” he said.

Rafizi said the stewardship of MyDigital, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, will guide C4IR closer to the innovation culture the country desires — by prioritising actionable outcomes, curating locally relevant discussions and insights, and relentlessly iterating products to fit consumer needs.

"Everyone who wishes to learn, network and collaborate on technology and innovation should feel welcome to participate and contribute at the C4IR. Like most meaningful changes in society — it takes a village to make a difference. We hope that this is the start of something good,” he added.

Commenting on the first quarter GDP data, Rafizi said that despite posting better than expected results, the country is still very much exposed to the global headwinds, where the rest of the world are talking about a possibility of slowdown and even recession.

"We are still exposed to whatever monetary decisions from the US Federal Reserve. That’s why it’s important that while we manage the day-to-day economic performance, we also have to really stay focused on the long-term restructure, and the long-term restructuring is about value creation from the digital economy to energy transitions,” he said.

Rafizi said the more Malaysia progresses in this new high growth, high value sectors, the less the country is exposed to the international headwinds, thus the less it becomes dependent on the commodities from the natural resources and so on.

Malaysia’s economy recorded a better-than-expected expansion of 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 driven mainly by private sector expenditure.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus on Friday said the growth in 2023 was supported by further expansion of household spending, continued investment activity, improving labour market and higher tourism activities. — Bernama