Malaysia is 6th in R&D among Asian countries

Malaysia still lags behind developed countries in gross expenditure in research and development (GERD).

According to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009, Malaysia was ranked 39th in terms of research and development (R&D) expenditure at US$1.06 billion (RM3.47 billion) or 0.64% of gross domestic product (GDP), said Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Fadilah Yusof (Petra Jaya-BN).

The yearbook said that the US had the highest R&D expenditure at US$368.8 billion (2.67% of GDP) followed by Japan at US$148.4 billion (3.4% of GDP) and Germany at US$83.8 billion (2.53% of GDP).

"The total R&D allocation under the Ninth Malaysia Plan is RM5.253 billion (US$1.43 billion). Of this, public sector allocation stands at RM3.4 billion while the private sector has budgeted RM1.8 billion for R&D expenditure," said Fadilah in Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

"Among Asian countries, Malaysia is ranked sixth behind Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

"However, Malaysia is ahead of Thailand which is ranked 44th in the world at US$498 million (0.2% of GDP) and the Philippines which is at 54th with R&D expenditure at US$123 million (0.1% of GDP)," said Fadilah.

Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak-BN) had asked the government to state the allocation for R&D in public and private sectors.

According to Fadilah, R&D spending by private sector in Malaysia was highest at 85% of overall R&D spending compared to the US at 72%, and Japan and South Korea at 77%.

TheEdgeMalaysia

In short, we need to work more on R&D, and I mean real R&D, not just being themed with the same thing but yet doing the routine work or work with only a small fraction of R&D, so that our nation can really grow!