KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — A proposed new act could be a big shot in the arm for Malaysia’s research and development (R&D) sector by mandating a minimum spending of 2 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product into R&D.

FMT reported Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang saying the new Science, Technology and Innovation Act, saying that while the budget for his ministry has increased over the last few years, legislation would help boost needed investment.

Other countries, he said, have also put it in writing that a certain percentage of their GDP must be invested into R&D, for example China and South Korea.

South Korea aims to allocated at least 4 per cent of its GDP into R&D while China’s 13th Five Year Plan targeted its R&D expenditure to reach 2.5 per cent.

As for Malaysia’s track record on R&D spending, it last peaked in 2016 with gross expenditure reaching RM17.7 billion however it current spends barely 1 per cent in comparison to neighbour Singapore’s 2.2 per cent and Taiwan’s 3.54 per cent.

No timeline is as yet set for the act as Chang said significant lobby and buy-in from various stakeholders would first need to be done.

The government also recently launched the RM2 billion fund, the Malaysia Science Endowment (MSE), that will co-finance R&D projects with foreign and private partners.

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