KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 – Malaysia needs to start thinking about mandating companies, both local and foreign, to contribute a portion of their revenue to support research and development (R&D) in Malaysian universities, said Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Liew Chin Tong.
He recalled that during a visit to Brazil, he learned from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) that Brazilian regulations require companies to contribute 1% of their revenue – not profit – to R&D in the country’s universities.
“And they (Petronas) contribute a lot of revenue (to R&D). (Therefore) whether it comes from Malaysian companies or whoever makes money out of Malaysia we have to start thinking about mandating some contributions by companies that make money in this country,” he said at the Unctad-KRI national consultation meeting on Green Industrialisation on Wednesday.
Liew argued that Malaysia does not have a talent problem but the perceived talent shortage is actually a pay problem.
“Most of the time, university VCs are preoccupied by the idea that they have to train students. The national debate now is there’s a talent problem. If you pay two-thirds of Singapore pay, everyone will come back. But we are still preoccupied by this thinking that we have to train as many engineering students as possible,” he said.
“Additionally, when thinking about potential investors, we often compare ourselves to Vietnam, and investors often encourage this comparison. We are often told that Vietnam is doing this, doing that. To the extent that we continue to see ourselves just as a manufacturing base, we do not see ourselves as a location for R&D,” Liew said.
He added that as long as Malaysia continues to see itself merely as a manufacturing base, it fails to recognise its potential as a hub for R&D and high-end production.
