To become a high-income nation, Malaysia must boost R&D spending

Free Malaysia Today

Spending more on research and development is a surefire way of lifting ourselves from the middle-income nation trap Malaysia languishes in currently.   *The footage in this video is sourced from various social media platforms for educational and non-commercial purposes only, with all rights remaining with their respective owners.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2024/10/16/to-become-a-high-income-nation-malaysia-must-boost-rd-spending/   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTNews #GDP #MOSTI #Research #Development

Transcript

00:00As the Ringgit becomes the best performing currency in the world,

00:03an extraordinary feat after hitting its lowest rate just four months ago,

00:07Malaysians are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

00:11Economy Minister Rafi Ziramli has expressed hope that Malaysia will become a high-income nation

00:16by 2027 should the Ringgit continue to strengthen. With the national education system receiving the

00:22largest budget allocation last year, Malaysia appears ready to break barriers in all key

00:26sectors – economy, education, and governance. But there is one more sector the federal

00:33government should consider spending on to elevate the nation's emerging

00:36upper-middle-income economy – research and development.

00:46It is often overlooked and underappreciated, as its results are difficult to quantify

00:50and usually only seen and felt years later. But developed countries that have made a point

00:55to invest in R&D have only seen their competitiveness boosted.

01:00For example, South Korea, which once lagged behind Malaysia in GDP per capita,

01:05climbed eight spots to 20th in IMD's world competitiveness ranking this year,

01:10while we dropped seven spots to 34th. With a GDP of around 4.3 times that of Malaysia,

01:16South Korea is now ranked first in the world for R&D spending, allocating about 4.9% of its GDP to

01:22the field compared to Malaysia's 0.95%. In simpler terms, South Korea spends,

01:30on average, a whopping 19.8 times more than Malaysia on R&D.

01:35And it's not just South Korea that is investing in high-value R&D.

01:38Other developed nations such as Japan, the U.S., and Switzerland are also doing the same.

01:44Funding for R&D typically comes from the government and private enterprises.

01:48Examples of prominent government-funded large projects include the National Aeronautics and

01:52Space Administration in the U.S. and the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

01:58On the other hand, companies like Toyota, Samsung, and Amazon focus on research that

02:03drives commercial gains, aiming to push their businesses to new heights.

02:08It is long overdue for Malaysia to address this issue, and Science, Technology,

02:13and Innovation Minister Chang Lee Teng believes that mandating a minimum spending of 2% of GDP

02:19on R&D could be the solution.

02:22They put it in writing that the country must at least invest how many percent of their GDP into R&D.

02:30By having a fund size of $2 billion, every year we can easily come out with about $100 billion to do extra R&D.

02:41Danish Roger Reza, FMT News.

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