PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) has allocated a total of RM24 million for industrial research and development (R&D) this year.
Its Minister Yeo Bee Yin said this marked the first time that the ministry had allocated over 50 per cent of the funds for the R&D purposes compared to just 8.6 per cent previously.
“It is one of 23 MESTECC’s initiatives for science and technology sector.
“If we look at other countries such as Singapore, the fund allocation for industrial research is at 48 per cent, while Japan is 78 per cent, and for the first time this year MESTECC allocates over 50 per cent of its funds for industrial research,” she said.
She said this to reporters in a special interview in conjunction with first anniversary of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government administration here.
Yeo said that the objective of the allocation was to create an ecosystem that could be applied in the industry and economy to create wealth for Malaysia through science and technology as well as creating job opportunities.
That apart, MESTECC is also bringing the mobile version of the National Science Centre to schools in rural areas.
She said the initiative under the National Science Week would allow rural students to get to know science closely.
“The mobile science centre will start visiting rural schools in July as all this while only students from urban areas are able to visit the National Science Centre. We hope this programme to benefit 600,000 rural students,” she said.
She added that MESTECC also to provide sharing facilities under the National Scientific Facilities & Equipment (NSFE) of 1,200 scientific equipment to the industrial sector.
The initiative NSFE sharing facility was created for the first time in order to further enhance collaboration in R&D.
It also hoped to increase contribution of industry sector spending in R&D to 70 per cent.
“This initiative can help the science, technology and innovation (STI) community to implement research, development and commercialisation (R&D&C) activities at cost-effective through rental or analytical services without having to purchase expensive equipment.
“The industry will also have the opportunity to obtain expert advice in science and technology through the collaboration of these scientific facilities and equipment,” she said. – Bernama
