MTDC NEWS January - September 2016|1 January - September 2016 | Complimentary Issue

Dagang Halal set to be world’s largest digital halal market place

KUALA LUMPUR: DagangHalal Plc is poised to become the world’s largest digital Halal marketplace and a focal centre for the global halal industry following a successful listing in London, says Managing Director Datuk Muhadzir Mohd Isa.

With the listing, DagangHalal is now well-positioned to capitalise on the growth in global ecommerce sales, which are expected to reach US$4.9 trillion (RM19.1 trillion) in 2020.

“We believe we are in the right industry, and that we have the right business model and the right footing to benefit from the rising spending power of Muslim consumers which is projected to increase to US$5.3 trillion by 2020,” he said at a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

DagangHalal, the world’s first global e-marketplace to address the need for halal verification, was successfully listed on London’s ICAP Securities and Derivatives Exchange (ISDX) Growth Market on April 7, at a placing price of 25p.

Gross proceeds of about £4.2mil (RM23.8mil) have been

raised by way of a subscription of £3.9mil from Malaysian investors and a placing of £0.3mil from UK investors.

The subscription raised about RM22.4mil as part of a pre-admission fundraising including about RM5.4mil from the Malaysia Technology Development Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah N a s i o n a l M a l a y s i a , t h e sovereign wealth fund of the Government.

DagangHalal Chief Executive O f f i c e r M o h a m e d H a z l i Mohamed Hussain at the same briefing said the purpose of the listing on London ISDX was for the company to easily gain global recognition and endorsement, and to help highlight DagangHalal’s business profile worldwide.

He said net proceeds of about £3.6mil (RM20.4mil) from the listing will be used to accelerate the company’s growth strategy and expansion plan into new territories, and to further develop the Group’s platform, products and proprietary technology.

“Proceeds from the listing will be used to upgrade our halal certificate repository system

Booths showcasing halal products from various countries are seen at the KL Convention Centre during the World Halal week lastr month. - Bernama pic

Source: The Star Online

which includes a halal verified engine (HVE) and halal certificate management system (HCMS), to further develop the current e-commerce platform and a new mobile application for the consumer.

“Collaboration agreements with other certified bodies (CBs) will also be expanded, growing the group’s ecosystem in existing core markets, by expanding activities into new geographies targeting Indonesia, China and Japan, through increasing the number of Halal CB partners,” he said.

The HVE was jointly developed by DagangHalal and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

Collaboration agreements have been signed with 36 out of 70 international CBs recognised by Jakim.

“The group’s overall objective is to promote halal trade by facilitating and simplifying halal business transactions anywhere and anytime, through the usage of information technology.

“Ultimately, the company aims to anchor a World Digital Halal Exchange by 2020,” he added. - Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: The government via Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) Sdn Bhd has allocated RM60 million as grants for research and development (R&D) and product commercialisation for 2016.

Of the amount, RM40 million is for commercialisation of the local R&Dfund, the technology acquisition fund (RM10 million) and business start-up fund (RM10 million).

MTDC chief executive officer Datuk Norhalim Yunus said the funds are crucial for local companies to expand their businesses at home and in the global market.

“The agency will act as a mediator to push for more collaboration between local and foreign companies. This is especially for the transfer of technology and opportunities to find partners in entering new markets,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Business Meeting Asia 2016 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

MTDC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, is in charge of promoting the adoption of technologies by local companies via commercialisation of R&D or acquisition of foreign technologies.

In the 11th Malaysia Plan, the Government doubled

grants for R&D and commercialisation to RM500 million, compared with RM297 million in the 10th Plan.

Meanwhile, the one-day Business Meeting Asia 2016, co-organised by MTDC and Korea’s Asian Science Park Association (ASPA) attracted 34 foreign companies from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

More than 30 local companies from various clusters, namely information, communication and technology, biotech, electronics, robotics, healthcare and machinery, also participated.

ASPA secretary-general Dr Sunkook Kwon said the organisation holds one or more multilateral business meetings annually in the Asian region with the participation of small and medium enterprises.

“Companies are able to seek partnerships, which can create a synergy effect in the international market, with the advantage of rapidly adjusting to the changes in high technology and sprawl out anywhere in the world,” he said in his opening speech.

In a separate update, MTDC is expected to manage the halal technology development fund, to be announced next month. At present, MTDC is managing five government funds involving R&D and commercialisation. -

Govt allocates RM60m as R&D and commercialisation

grants

Source: Bernama

MTDC NEWS January - September 2016|3 2 | MTDC NEWS January - September 2016

M’sian Phosphate Additives RM1.9b plant to start 2018 Innovative

developmentK U C H I N G : M a l a y s i a n Phosphate Additives (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd’s (MPAS) proposed RM1.9bil phosphate additives plant in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu, is expected to be commissioned in 2018.

Chairman Datuk Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree said the project, which would be South-East Asia’s largest integrated phosphate additives complex, would house nine different plants that would produce food, fertiliser and halal feed phosphates.

“The proposed plant is targeted for completion in phases from mid-to-end 2018,” he said at the signing of a power purchase agreement between MPAS and Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB). SEB will supply 150MW to power the plant.

The signatories for the agreement were SEB group chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit and MPAS managing director Lim Lee Wan. Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem witnessed the event.

Malaysian Phosphate Additives Sdn Bhd (via Malaysian Phosphate Ventures Sdn Bhd) and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (through wholly-owned subisidary Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd) each own a 40% stake in MPAS. The remaining 20% equity is held by Arif Enigma Sdn Bhd, an associate of Tradewinds Plantations group.

Syed Ahmad said on full operation, the plant would produce 500,000 tonnes per annum of phosphate products, ranging from food grade, animal feed and fertilser phosphates, 900,000 tonnes per annum of coke and 100,000 tonnes per annum of ammonia.

Food phosphate is used mainly in crude palm oil refining and in the production of various types of food and beverages, cola fizzy drinks, food source for cakes and noodles while fertiliser phosphate is used in the production of compound fertiliser, nitrogen phosphorous potassium. Halal feed phosphate

is used to replace big bones of animals in animal feed.

Syed Ahmad said the technology for the project was developed by Malaysian chemical engineers under the auspices of the Malaysian Technology Development Corp, and that all MPAS shareholders were Malaysian entities.

The project, he said, would strengthen the national food security system.

MPAS’s annual average revenue is estimated at RM2.9bil of which over 80% would be from export income. The plant will provide jobs to some 1,200 people, including engineers and project supervisors.

“This project has a huge downstream potential and will be able to spawn a cluster of no less than 20 different downstream industries for small and medium enterprises,” he said.

NILAI: The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) plans to guide 40 graduates who want to go into technological entrepreneurships.

MTDC Chief Executive Officer Datuk Norhalim Yunus said the corporation was currently guiding 30 graduates under its symbiosis programme.

“Generally we want to expose the students to ways to develop a company using technology.

“This technology does not have to be too sophisticated, but can be commercialised, and developed by the students and lecturers themselves, and is an innovation which could be expanded in the future,” he said.

Norhalim was speaking to reporters after the closing ceremony of the “Transfer

of Industry Knowledge Into Academia 2016” programme which was officiated by Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching.

A t o t a l o f 8 5 f i n a l -y e a r s t u d e n t s f r o m 1 6 polytechnics throughout the country participated in the programme.

Norhalim said under MTDC’s guidance, the graduates would be exposed to the business model canvas, and funds would be provided by the government.

He added that under the symbiosis programme, the MTDC would provide funds of up to RM500,000 for every project which had market value. – Bernama MTDC to guide 40 grads in tech entrepreneurships

MTDC to guide 40 grads in tech entrepreneurships

Innovation has become a key factor in the process of socioeconomic development. Innovation is no longer the prerogative of developed nations. Some developing countries have given innovation-based development a high priority in their national development plans and economic growth strategies and they are now reaping the fruits of that investment.

In this knowledge-driven world, it is vitally important for developing countries to place innovation at the top of their development agendas and bring about the necessary changes to transition from their largely natural resource-based economies to innovation-led systems.

It is imperative to have innovation systems with quality human resources, supported by a strong infrastructure and dynamic innovation policies. Information and communication technologies play an important role in the ecosystem. Combined with knowledg workers, knowledge networks and knowledge absorption capabilities, particularly in the private sector, they can lead to a stream of high value products and services that can have a significant impact on national economies.

A critically important ingredient of an innovation ecosystem is the quality of the knowledge workers. This, in turn, is reflected in the quality of education, the level of research, as evident from the scholarly articles published in top journals, the rankings of universities and the number of international patents produced indigenously.

According to the Global Innovation Index 2015, there are 11 developing countries that have shown significant improvements from 2011-2014 in their overall Innovation Index; they are Armenia, China, Georgia, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Uganda and Vietnam. These countries are investing heavily in the implementation of innovative policies, and this spending in key sectors is driving their growth.

Innovation must go beyond economic development and promote inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development by focusing on the key problems faced by the people: health, environment and jobs for the under-privileged. The key principles that need to be implemented to promote innovation are:

(i) Promoting innovation across all industries, not just in high tech manufacturing; (ii) Promoting innovation in all areas and in all phases of development so that countries can transition from the manufacture of low value products to the manufacture of high value products; (iii) Establishing a world class IT infrastructure to provide ready access to digital knowledge and promote e-commerce; (iv) Establishing National Innovation Agencies that can promote the formulation of robust and dynamic innovation strategies. Such agencies have been established in Kenya, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam; (v) Establishing an effective tax, trade and investment environment so that innovation can be promoted and facilities such as access to venture capital, the establishment of techno-parks in key fields, financial and legal services and mentorship are available to assist new start-up firms; and (vi) Promoting mechanisms to support new technologies through ready access to R&D funds, so that new and creative ideas can be nurtured.

There are a number of initiatives taken by other fast developing countries that we can learn from. China’s remarkable economic development has been based on massive investments in science, technology and innovation. The 2006 National Plan for China (covering the period 2006-2020) lays strong emphasis on revamping the science and technology institutions and promoting innovation-led economic growth. To attract the best talent from abroad, particularly the US, China launched the ‘Thousand Talents Recruitment Program’, which has already brought more than 2,000 professionals to China through excellent salaries and research incentives.

India presents another good example of how science and technology can boosting the economy. Its investments in high quality educational institutions that produce good professionals, in the IT area for instance, have led to an industry that has passed the $147 billion mark in revenues ($99 billion in exports and $48 billion domestic) and contributes about 13 percent to India’s total annual GDP. The pharmaceutical and biotech industries have also made rapid progress, driven by highly qualified local labour and sensible industrial and innovation policies.

Malaysia presents another interesting example of how

innovation policies are being implemented. The Intensification of Research in Priority Areas programme was launched in 1988 by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) to promote research in universities and R&D institutions. Realising the importance of promoting R&D in the private sector, the Malaysian government launched the ‘Industrial R & D Grant Scheme’ in 1997.

Production of high quality technological goods has become a key pillar in the industrial growth of Malaysia, and the progress has been nothing short of spectacular. Today, about 87 percent of total technology exports to the Islamic world come from Malaysia alone. The remaining 13 percent come from the 56 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states – with Indonesia contributing about 6 percent and the remaining 55 members (including countries like Turkey Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait) contributing only about 7 percent.

MOSTI coordinates closely with other key organisations, such as the Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology, the Multimedia Development Corporation, the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, the National Science Research Council and the five research universities. The establishment of a high level research centre in my name – the ‘Atta-ur-Rahman Research Institute of Natural Product Discovery’ at the largest university of Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara – is illustrative of the emphasis that Malaysia is now placing on cutting edge research. Malaysia is, however, still dependent on foreign technology as is evident from the deficit balance between royalties and license fees paid abroad against those received. It needs to become a technology exporting country.

The importance of implementing innovation policies needs to be understood by the leaders and planners of developing countries. This means involving all stakeholders and then supporting them in the establishment of various innovation-led schemes in their respective fields. Pakistan needs to learn from others and have a focused implementation strategy based on the policies of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and backed by liberal funding, so that we too can transition to a strong innovation-driven knowledge economy.

The writer is a former federal minister, former founding chairman of the HEC and presently president of the Network of Academies of Science of Islamic Countries.

MTDC offers funding for Sarawak’s technopreneurs

Norhalim is seen giving the opening remarks and a brief introduction on MTDC at Road2Funding 2016 held at Pullman yesterday.

KUCHING: The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) hosted Road2Funding 2016 to provide technopreneurs in Sarawak, wider access to funding and to take up commercialisation of indigenous technology and innovation for the mass-market roll out.

The one-day event was attended by 100 participants, mainly students, researchers and technology-based entrepreneurs.

“This event will not also get technology entrepreneurs closer to understanding the role of MTDC and the multitudes of support available for them to

grow their businesses, it is also a platform for business networking and business matching between the industry, government and academia.” says Datuk Norhalim Yunus, chief executive officer (CEO) of MTDC.

Besides briefing sessions on MTDC funds, business clinic and

networking session, the event also featured poster exhibition for Universities to display their potential technology researches for commercialisation.

As a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad and an agency under MOSTI, the Government has entrusted MTDC to manage multiple matching funds since the Seventh Malaysia Plan until today.

In the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP) and 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) alone, companies that were recipients of MTDC’s Commercialisation of Research and Development Fund (CRDF) and Technology Acquisition Fund (TAF) generated a total of RM1.974 billion in sales and contributed towards the creation of 5,261 new jobs and a total of 465 Intellectual Property Rights were filed.

“At MTDC we offer Commercialisation of Research and Development Fund (CRDF), Technology Acquisition Fund (TAF), Business Startup Fund (BSF), Business Growth Fund (BGF), Business Expansion Fund (BEF) and the latest,

Halal Technology Development Fund (Halal Fund) to assist companies and entrepreneurs at differentlevel of business undertakings.

Road2Funding 2016 is free and open to entrepreneurs, researchers, and inventors, members of business chambers and business associations as well as State Government officials in charge of entrepreneur development. The roadshow is part of a nationwide programme organised by MTDC this year.

Source: Daily Express

Source: Borneo Post

Source: The Star Online

K o t a K i n a b a l u : L a b u a n’s H a l a l Hu b h o l d s g r e a t p o t e n t i a l , e s p e c i a l l y w i t h t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n b y t h e a c a d e m i a a n d g r a d u a t e s , s u c h a s Un i v e r s i t i M a l a y s i a S a b a h ( U M S ) a n d o t h e r s i n c l u d i n g Ja k i m w h i c h i s a l e a d i n g g l o b a l h a l a l s t a n d a r d r e f e r e n c e a n d a u t h o r i t y.M a l a y s i a n Te c h n o l o g y D e v e l o p m e n t C o r p o r a t i o n ( M T D C ) C E O D a t o’ N o r h a l i m Yu n u s s a i d h i s o r g a n i s a t i o n’s H a l a l Te c h n o l o g y D e v e l o p m e n t F u n d i s r i g h t f o r s u c h d e v e l o p m e n t u s i n g s u i t a b l e t e c h n o l o g y t o c r e a t e t h e w o r l d ’s b e s t h a l a l p r o d u c t s .

T h e r e a l i s a t i o n w i l l b e n e f i t L a b u a n i m m e n s e l y w i t h t h e i n c r e a s e i n e c o n o m i c c o n t r i b u t i o n o f h a l a l s e c t o r s m a l l a n d m e d i u m e n t e r p r i s e s t h r o u g h t h e e x p o r t o f h a l a l p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s .

T h i s d e v e l o p m e n t w i l l c r e a t e e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r l o c a l s i n t h e h a l a l - c o m p l i a n t i n d u s t r y t h r o u g h M T D C ’s p r o n g t o d e v e l o p , n u r t u r e a n d i n c r e a s e t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f S M E s i n h a l a l - b a s e d i n d u s t r y s e t - u p .

H i s o f f i c e r, i n t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e f u n d , s a i d :

“ H a l a l Te c h n o l o g y D e v e l o p m e n t F u n d i s s p e c i f i c a l l y d e s i g n e d t o n u r t u r e a n d f i n a n c e s m a l l a n d m e d i u m e n t e r p r i s e s f o r l o n g -t e r m g r o w t h a n d e x p o r t -d r i v e n t h r o u g h h a l a l -c o m p l i a n t a c t i v i t i e s .”

“ Mu s l i m p o p u l a t i o n i s e x p e c t e d t o g r o w f r o m 1 . 8 b i l l i o n n o w t o 2 . 5 b i l l i o n b y 2 0 2 5 , a n d t h e p r i m a r y f o c u s o f H a l a l Te c h n o l o g y D e v e l o p m e n t F u n d i s t o p r o v i d e c o m p a n i e s w i t h a c c e s s t o t h e b e s t a d v i s o r y s e r v i c e s a n d n e t w o r k s .

“ T h e a c t i v i t i e s i n c l u d e h a l a l p r o d u c t d e v e l o p m e n t a n d p r o c e s s e s , s e r v i c e s a n d r e g u l a t o r y c o m p l i a n c e .

T h e a c t i v i t i e s a r e p a r t o f a n e f f o r t t o o v e r c o m e b a r r i e r s a n d h u r d l e s t o b r i n g h a l a l p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s t o t h e m a r k e t .”

Labuan Halal Hub promising

“ H a l a l Te c h n o l o g y D e v e l o p m e n t F u n d a l s o p r o v i d e s a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r c o m p a n i e s t o c r e a t e i n n o v a t i o n p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h u n i v e r s i t y, r e s e a r c h i n s t i t u t i o n , h a l a l - r e l a t e d a g e n c i e s o r s o l u t i o n p r o v i d e r s t o a d d r e s s t e c h n i c a l c h a l l e n g e s i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f n e w h a l a l p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s ,” h e s a i d , s t r e s s i n g o n M T D C ’s r o l e a n d o b j e c t i v e t o e q u i p a n d e n h a n c e S M E s t o d e v e l o p a n d m a r k e t h a l a l - c o m p l a i n t p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s f o r t h e e x p o r t m a r k e t .

M T D C i s c o n f i d e n t t h a t t h i s w i l l o p t i m i s e r e t u r n s a n d a c h i e v e c a p i t a l g r o w t h f o r t e c h n o l o g y -b a s e d c o m p a n i e s i n v o l v e d i n h a l a l -c o m p l i a n t a c t i v i t i e s , a n d i n t u r n d e v e l o p M a l a y s i a a s a h u b f o r p r o d u c t i o n o f h a l a l - b a s e d p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s f o r t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t .

S t r e s s i n g t h a t m o r e Mu s l i m s a r e f i n d i n g i t d i f f i c u l t t o v i s i t A m e r i c a a n d E u r o p e , a n d a r e h e a d i n g t o A s i a n c o u n t r i e s w h e r e n e w m a r k e t s o p e n up i n Ta i w a n t o Ja p a n p r e s e n t i n g g r e a t o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r h a l a l h u b s s u c h a s L a b u a n .

To a q u e s t i o n b y D a i l y E x p r e s s o n t h e m u s h r o o m i n g h a l a l h u b s i n m a n y s t a t e s , S a b a h i n c l u d e d a s i n t h e K o t a K i n a b a l u I n d u s t r i a l P a r k , P a p a r a n d e l s e w h e r e a n d w h o o r w h a t a g e n c y s h o u l d b e r e s p o n s i b l e t o s y n c h r o n i s e t h e s e h a l a l h u b s i n c o m p e t i t i o n , N o r h a l i m r e p l i e d t h a t i t i s n o t f o r h i m o r M T D C ’s r o l e t o c o o r d i n a t e . “ I t i s b e s t l e f t t o t h e e x p e r t s i n t h e r e l e v a n t a u t h o r i t y.”

M T D C i s t h e f o r e m o s t F e d e r a l e n t i t y p r o m o t i n g t e c h n o l o g y c o m m e r c i a l i s a t i o n a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l a d v a n c e m e n t f o r M a l a y s i a n f i r m s t o c o m p e t e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y a s w o r l d c l a s s e n t e r p r i s e s w i t h v a r i o u s f u n d i n g p r o g r a m m e s f o r s t a r t - u p , g r o w t h a n d e x p a n s i o n w i t h n o c o l l a t e r a l r e q u i r e d .

Source: Daily Express

This event will not also get technology entrepreneurs closer to understanding the role of MTDC and

the multitudes of support available for them to grow their businesses, it is also a platform for business

networking and business matching between the

industry, government and academia.

-Datuk Norhalim Yunus-

Source :

MTDC NEWS January - September 2016|5 4 | MTDC NEWS January - September 2016

Source: Utusan Online

SHAH ALAM: Perbadanan Pembangunan Teknologi Malaysia (MTDC) komited membangunkan syarikat teknologi tempatan dengan nilai jualan RM100 juta setahun dan ke atas.

Ini untuk mewujudkan lebih banyak syarikat berteknologi tinggi dengan pekerja berkemahiran serta berpendapatan tinggi.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MTDC, Datuk Norhalim Yunus, yakin hasrat itu mampu direalisasikan menerusi dana lebih RM600 juta diumumkan dalam Rancangan Malaysia ke-11.

Dana tersebut diperuntukkan kerajaan menerusi Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi (MOSTI).

Ia merangkumi Dana P e n g k o m e r s i a l a n Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan (CRDF), Dana Pengambilalihan Teknologi (TAF), Dana Syarikat Perniagaan Baharu (BSF), Dana Pertumbuhan Perniagaan (BGF) dan Dana Pengembangan Perniagaan (BEF).

“Sekarang, antara sektor yang melonjak maju adalah tenaga hijau. Dalam keadaan dunia sekarang, teknologi tenaga hijau diberi penekanan dan kita ada beberapa syarikat yang bergiat dalam bidang ini dan mereka diseneraikan di Bursa Saham di London.

“Kita juga ada beberapa lagi syarikat yang ingin

bekerjasama dengan kami supaya dapat disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia dalam masa tiga ke empat tahun. Dalam RMK-11, kerajaan memberi kami satu tanggungjawab baru iaitu untuk menguruskan dana untuk pembunganan produk halal di pasaran antarabangsa,” kata Norhalim ketika ditemui pemberita di sesi himpunan jaringan MTDC ReUnites 2016 di sini pada Isnin.

Jelas Norhalim, ketika ini terdapat satu syarikat dalam sektor kimia dengan nilai syarikat RM1 bilion yang dijangka disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia menjelang hujung tahun.

“Berdasarkan syarikat-syarikat yang kita biayai, kita ingin bangunkan portfolio syarikat yang bernilai lebih daripada RM1 bilion sebagai satu sasaran yang ingin kita capai kerana kita juga ingin berkongsi dengan semua para usahawan bahawa MTDC bukan syarikat yang mendapat kos operasinya daripada kerajaan,”

Syarikat dalam sektor minyak dan gas juga antara yang diberi tumpuan susulan beberapa syarikat tempatan telah mengeksport produk ke luar negara.Sektor makanan dan peralatan perubatan turut diberi penekanan dalam usaha menerokai pasaran eksport.

MTDC ReUnites menghimpunkan kira-kira 200 peserta yang terdiri daripada penerima

dana dan pelabur dan ia merupakan platform yang menghubungkan kedua-dua pihak untuk menjalin hubungan strategik bagi mencapai kejayaan dalam perniagaan.

Penerima dana sambut baik usaha dan bantuan MTDCUsahawan tempatan menyifatkan usaha yang dilakukan MTDC dapat memajukan syarikat tempatan berteknologi tinggi untuk bersaing di peringkat global.

Menurut Pengarah LaDIY Healthcare Romli Ishak, Dana Pengkomersilan Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan (CRDF) Yang diperolehi daripada MTDC membolehkan syarikatnya mengembangkan operasi ke luar negara.

“Ia memberikan peluang untuk kita membina jaringan perniagaan. Di sini ada perniagaan yang sudah matang dan ada yang baru ingin berjinak-jinak. Seperti saya yang terlibat dalam industri peralatan perubatan, kita sentiasa teruja dengan berhubung dengan rakan niaga di luar negara.

“Ada beberapa syarikat yang sudah berjaya menembusi pasaran luar negara dan syarikat saya juga sudah mula melangkah ke luar negara sedikit demi sedikit.” kata Romli.

Sementara itu bagi Ketua Pegawai Operasi Archtron Research & Development Sdn Bhd Yap Thiah Huat,

jualan syarikatnya meningkat selepas menerima Dana Pertumbuhan Perniagaan (BGF).

“MTDC memainkan peranan yang baik dalam membantu syarikat untuk menyerap atau menyokong sebahagian daripada perbelanjaan modal. Seperti dalam kes saya, MTDC membantu kami dalam fabrikasi acuan yang membolehkan kami mempunyai lebih banyak peruntukan untuk disalurkan kepada aktiviti pemasaran dan promosi.

“Untuk syarikat PKS seperti saya, kita perlukan lebih banyak sokongan daripada kerajaan dari segi subsidi perbelanjaan modal. Kami telah berjaya menggadakan jumlah jualan kami sejak menerima CRDF pada 2007, dan pada hari ini pertumbuhan telah meningkat dua kali ganda sehingga 100 peratus,” kata Yap.

Bagi Ketua Pegawai Operasi Norsym Sdn Bhd Noor Fatiah Meor Aris, dengan bantuan MTDC syarikatnya mampu mengkomersialkan secara besar-besaran perniagaan cendawan kukur dan produk pertanian bioteknologi untuk pasaran tempatan.

“Ini merupakan satu peluang amat baik sebagai seorang graduan yang menceburi

dalam bidang perniagaan. MTDC mempunyai satu platform yang berkesan dan kukuh untuk pergi jauh.

“Sebagai seorang graduan, kita tidak mempunyai ilmu mengenai perniagaan dan mereka (MTDC) akan memberi kami satu ekosistem di mana semua syarikat yang sudah berjaya akan disatukan dan membantu syarikat permulaan seperti kami untuk pergi lebih jauh,” kata Noor Fatiah.Pembabitan MTDC dalam merancakkan kemampuan usahawan tempatan mampu menyumbang kepada pertumbuhan syarikat yang

NORHALIM: Hasrat untuk mewujudkan lebih banyak syarikat berteknologi tinggi dengan pekerja berkemahiran serta berpendapatan tinggi mampu direalisasikan menerusi dana lebih RM600 juta diumumkan dalam RMK-11. - Gambar fail Bernama

MTDC komited wujud syarikat teknologi tempatan bernilai tinggi

SEB bekal tenaga ke kompleks integrasi fosfat

Malaysia Minati Investasi di Kampar

KUCHING 3 Feb. - Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) melalui anak syarikatnya, Syarikat SESCO Berhad (SESCO) menandatangani perjanjian penjualan tenaga (PPA) dengan Malaysian Phosphate Additives (Sarawak) Sdn. Bhd. (MPA Sarawak), bagi membekalkan 150 megawatt (MW) kepada kompleks integrasi fosfat yang pertama di Asia Tenggara.

Pengerusi MPA Sarawak, Datuk Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree berkata, PPA tersebut menunjukkan komitmen pihaknya dalam pelaburan besar bernilai RM1.9 bilion bagi pembangunan kompleks integrasi fosfat di Taman Industri Samalaju nanti.

“Kita bangga kerana projek MPA Sarawak merupakan projek Malaysia sebenar yang pemegang sahamnya terdiri daripada entiti negara ini dan teknologi pula dibangunkan oleh jurutera kimia di bawah Malaysian Technology Developement Corporation (MTDC).

“Kompleks fosfat ini akan melibatkan kapasiti

pengeluaran 500,000 tan bagi fosfat aditif, 100,000 tan ammonia dan 900,000 tan coke setiap tahun,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian dalam ucapannya pada Majlis Menandatangani PPA antara SESCO dan MPA Sarawak iaitu sebuah syarikat usaha sama Malaysian Phospate Ventures Sdn. Bhd., Cahaya Mata Sarawak Berhad melalui anak syarikat mereka iaitu Samalaju Industries Sdn. Bhd. dan Arif Enigma Sdn. Bhd. di sini hari ini.

Ketua Menteri, Tan Sri Adenan Satem menyaksikan majlis itu. Pihak SESCO diwakili oleh Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit dan disaksikan Pengurus Besar Undang-undang Kumpulannya, Stephanie Gae Chin, manakala MPA Sarawak oleh Pengarah Urusannya, Lim Lee Wan disaksikan Pengarahnya, Datuk Isaac Lugun.

Yang turut hadir, Menteri Pembangunan Perindustrian negeri, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan dan Setiausaha Kerajaan negeri, Tan Sri Mohamad Morshidi

Abdul Ghani.

Tambah Syed Ahmad, projek itu akan mewujudkan 1,200 peluang pekerjaan malah banyak potensi bagi industri hiliran, tidak kurang 20 kluster kepada perusahaan kecil dan sederhana (PKS).

“Manfaat projek ini, selain memperkasakan Sistem Keselamatan Makanan Kebangsaan ia juga dapat menghasilkan pendapatan negara kasar sebanyak RM11.8 bilion kepada ekonomi negara.

“Kami menyasarkan projek ini akan siap dalam beberapa fasa bermula pertengahan 2018 hingga akhir tahun itu,” jelasnya.

Sementara itu, Torstein berkata, PPA yang ditandatangani itu merupakan sebuah lagi kejayaan kawasan Koridor Tenaga Diperbaharui Sarawak (Score).

“Keputusan MPA Sarawak untuk membuka kompleks fosfat integrasi yang pertama di Sarawak menunjukkan jaminan bahawa kita berada pada laluan betul merealisasikan sasaran negeri menjadi penjana bagi rantau ASEAN,” jelasnya.

Adenan Satem (tengah) dan Awang Tengah Ali Hasan (dua dari kiri) menyaksikan pertukaran dokumen perjanjian penjualan tenaga antara Torstein Dale Sjotveit (kiri) dengan Lim Lee Wan di Kuching, semalam. UTUSAN/MOHAMAD GUSTIE NOORAMBIA

Source: Utusan Online

Kabupaten Kampar menjadi tujuan investasi bagi negara asing. Slahsatunya, investor asal Malaysia berkunjung ke kampar untuk menanamkan modal.

Riauterkini-SIAKHULU-Cik Rahman dari MTDC Malaysia selaku Ketua Rombongan mengatakan tujuan ke Kampar adalah membawa Perusahaan untuk menjajaki kerjasama dengan Pemerintah Kabupaten Kampar dalam pemberian pelayanan kesehatan masyarakat.

Dikatakan Rahman salah satu perusahaan yang dibawa ke Kabupaten Kampar adalah Foresight Industries Sdh Bhd yang bergerak di bidang kesehatan untuk membuka Pusat layanan kesehatan khususnya Cuci Darah untuk dikembangkan di Riau Khususnya Kampar.

Rahman bersama dengan Zulkifli Ismail Cik Adli dari Foresight Industries Sdh InvestBhd dan 10 orang rombongan tersebut akan melakukan kajian terhadap apa yangakan di investasikan di Kabupaten Kampar, apa peluang dan pangsa yang akan dibuat dapat di dukung potensi yang ada,” kata Rahman dihadapan Bupati Kampardan Kepala Dinas Kesehatan Kampar Harris Kamis (18/2/16).

Bupati Kampar H Jefry Noer dalam menyikapi keinginan dari investor malaysia inimenyatakan bahwa peluang ini sangat terbuka karena sangat banyak masyarakatyang membutuhkan pelayanan kesehatan. “Sejauh ini Kampar terbuka bagi investor yang datang ke Kampar, tentunya ini akan memberikan nilai ekonomi

bagiKampar sendiri,”kata Jefry Noer.

Di tambahkan Jefry Noer untuk pelayanan kesehatan sangat dibutuhkan pelayanankarena pada saat ini tak terlepas dari tekhnology dan industri kesehatan yangmakin berkembang dan maju, selain Ilmu pengetahuan kesehatan sendiri sebagai dasar.

“Kita sangat mendukung rencana ini, namun perlu di kaji dan pelajari bagaimana investasi dapat membantu peningkatan ekonomi melalui perekrutantenaga kerja local,” terangnya.

Sementara itu Kepala Dinas Kesehatan Kabupaten Kampar Haris akan melihat seberapa Potensi yang ada di Kampar khususnya pelayanan cuci darah, kemudian bagaimana statistik dari tahun ketahun, selanjutnya ada beberapa ketentuan dan persyaratan yang harus di penuhi, selain itu dimana tempat yang akan digunakan sebagai lokasi investasi ini.

lebih berdaya saing dan efektif.

Manfaat penjenamaan untuk kuasai pasaran - MOSTIDalam pada itu, MOSTI menggesa syarikat berteknologi tinggi untuk memberi tumpuan kepada aspek penjenamaan dalam usaha menembusi pasaran antarabangsa.

Menterinya Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau berkata, pada masa sama keperluan mempunyai piawaian dan akreditasi yang tinggi dapat memberikan nilai tambah kepada syarikat.

“Berkolaborasi antara satu sama lain juga adalah sesuatu yang setiap usahawan daripada syarikat teknologi ini perlu lakukan untuk menembusi pasaran antarabangsa dan mereka boleh mula dengan rantau ASEAN terlebih dahulu. Sekarang ini juga ada yang sudah disenaraikan di Bursa Saham di London. Ini adalah satu contoh yang baik kepada setiap usahawan di luar sana.

“Apa yang saya nampak di sini, sebahagian besar daripada mereka adalah usahawan yang mengkomersialkan teknologi tinggi dan menarik sekali, teknologi ini dibangunkan oleh penyeledik tempatan sendiri,” katanya selepas menghadiri jamuan tengah

hari MTDC REUnites 2016 di sini pada Isnin.

Tambah Wilfred, teknologi tenaga hijau terus mendapat perhatian dunia dan merupakan sektor yang mampu menguasai pasaran tempatan jika mempunyai penjenamaan yang efisyen serta mendapat keyakinan daripada pengguna. Kompleks fosfat ini

akan melibatkan kapasiti pengeluaran 500,000 tan

bagi fosfat aditif, 100,000 tan ammonia dan 900,000 tan

coke setiap tahun

“

Sejauh ini Kampar terbuka

bagi investor yang datang ke Kampar,

tentunya ini akan memberikan nilai

ekonomi bagi Kampar sendiri

Source: RiauTerkini

Teknologi tenaga hijau diberi penekanan dan kita ada

beberapa syarikat yang bergiat dalam bidang ini dan mereka diseneraikan di Bursa Saham

di London.

“

MTDC NEWS January - September 2016|7 6 | MTDC NEWS January - September 2016

MTDC sees vast opportunities in upcoming Bintulu plant

KUCHING: The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) believes the upcoming integrated phosphate plant in Bintulu will offer huge potential and business opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sarawak.

The integrated phosphate plant, Malaysian Phosphate Additives Sdn Bhd (MPA) Sarawak, the first of its kind in the region, is located within the Salamaju Industrial Park and MTDC is a shareholder of the the upcoming plant.

According to chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Norhalim Yunus, the RM2.2 billion integrated phosphate plant in Samalaju is expected to be ready two years from now, in 2018.

“For SMEs who have technology, who can see the opportunity, there are a huge range of downstream products that can be produced from the phosphate products that we will produce by MPA Sarawak,” he said during a press conference at the Road2Funding event.

“And I think this is one of the things Sarawakian SMEs can look at as a business opportunity.”Norhalim noted that from the government’s technology development point of view, there are huge possibilities to develop downstream phosphate industry now that we have an integrated phosphate plant in Samalaju.

He further noted that phosphate is used across the board such as in animal feed, pharmaceuticals, industrial products, in almost anything one can think of that contains phosphate.

Norhalim stressed that Sarawakian companies, SMEs and enterprises need to take the opportunity in this industry to see what are the types of projects which can be created based on phosphates.He pointed out that these projects need technology and as such maybe

they can plan now to work together with universities to look at the downstream technology that can be used.

On this note, Norhalim emphasised that entrepreneurs should cooperate and with universities as MTDC’s funds cover both public and private universities.

“We want to encourage SMEs to work with universities because if you look at the European experience, a lot of commercialisation of university knowledge is via collaborations.

“Research commercialisation is by working together, identifying issues that the SMEs faced and then working together to develop the solution and I think this is what we need.

“For example, we now have a project with one company providing robotics to the furniture industry. If you look at the furniture industry, the main problem is, its labour dependent.

“A lot of foreign workers are working in the furniture industry. So, the solution would be for productivity and efficiency is to introduce robotics. We are working now with companies to develop robotics for furniture industry.

“This is how we actually inject innovation into SMEs, into our industry,” he explained.

Companies can find the opportunities to work with universities whereby they can discover ways in which to add value to the businesses.

“That’s why we say while a company can have a turnover of RM1 billion to RM2 billion a year, but the downstream activities can rake in RM5 billion a year depending on how SMEs in swak react or take opportunity of these businesses,” he added.

On working with univerisites or research institutes, Norhalim

highlighted that there is a lot of opportunities for SMEs in Sarawak to work with universities, to commercialise their research results.

One of MTDC’s most important agenda is to assist SMEs to acquire technologies and commercialise it.

Norhalim hopes that by collaborating with universities and research institutes, it will actually drive the growth of SMEs as a whole.

“The other thing we are doing now is, we are also working with universities to look at student entrepreneurship because undergraduate entrepreneurship is something we need to explore as we need to create new type of companies.

“We have conventional SMEs doing relatively conventional things. But we need to have new companies formed by graduates who are doing new things. We will also be happy to talk to graduates or undergraduates who have ideas, projects, which they want to commercialise or test,” he said.

MTDC has running programmes, undergraduate commercialisation programmes in several universities in the Peninsular and is also looking into the possibility of doing that in Sabah and Sarawak as well.

“Because, I think that’s another avenue where we can actually create new technology-based companies besides upgrading companies that are already in operation in Sarawak and Sabah at this point in time,” he added.

On the impact of MTDC funds for Sabah and Sarawak, the total allocation under the 11th Malaysia Plan amounts to RM925 million while for the year 2016, it amounts to RM155 million. The total amount approved as of May 11, 2016 numbered at RM78.5 million. Ten companies have been approved as at May 11, 2016.

Making Locally Developed Technologies Reaching All Malaysians

Datuk Seri Madius Tangau, Science Technology and Innovation Minister.

Datuk Norhalim Yunus

KUALA LUMPUR, 16th May, 2016 (WAM) -- by Rasha Abubaker.

An official UAE trade delegation today visited the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, MTDC, located in the Selangor area of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, to explore prospects and boost investment opportunities for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, SME’s, on both sides.

The high-ranking delegation, which arrived yesterday on a 4-day visit, comprises more than 50 representatives from the Ministry of Economy and the Council of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Projects, SMEs Council, members of the public and private sectors from the UAE, businessmen, entrepreneurs, and other government officials. The trip is also fully backed by the SME’s Council, the organisation’s first involvement in an official government visit.

Speaking after a presentation from MTDC officials, Abdullah Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade and Industry Affairs, who is leading the delegation, said, “The aim of this visit, aside from participating in the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Annual Showcase, SMIDEX, is to build a partnership with Malaysia and help connect our companies with their Malaysian counterparts for the benefit of both sides.”

MTDC is a government-backed organisation founded in 1992 to provide integrated commercialisation solutions to help build world-class Malaysian technology companies through connecting start-up businesses with strategic partners. MTDC first identifies the products ready to be introduced to the market. So far, the corporation funds almost 700 Malaysian companies.

One of MTDC’s objectives is to also expand its international partnerships, and the UAE is one of the most influential countries the corporation hopes to break into. “The UAE has become a central hub for the GCC and Europe, and that’s why we have a strong interest in having a healthy relationship

with the UAE. We hope that after this visit we will build a platform for collaboration opportunities and expand our network there, especially with the government,” said Abdul Rahman Yasir, Senior Vice President at the Business Development Department in MTDC.

The delegation also visited another prominent innovation centre and business incubator, the Technology Park Malaysia, which supports more than 3,000 Malaysian and international companies, especially ICT firms.

Senior UAE delegate, Khalid Obaid Al Hajeri, Director-General of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the main aim of the visit is to discover the Malaysian experience and find the best opportunities it has to offer. “We are here to open new markets for our young entrepreneurs and SME’s. We want to develop the SME sector in Sharjah and create the best benchmark in Kuala Lumpur, because there are many funds supporting SME’s in Sharjah,” he said.

Speaking on what Sharjah has to offer countries like Malaysia, Al Hajeri said, “Sharjah is a main connecting hub for the Far East and Europe. That’s why Cathy Pacific uses Sharjah Airport as a cargo hub between Europe and the Far East, saving 50% of time and cost.”

Tomorrow, the delegates are due participate in the 19th edition of SMIDEX 2016, being held until May 19th at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Under the theme, ‘SME’s Rising to The Challenge,’ the annual event will see the convergence of SME’s large companies and multinational corporations to showcase their capabilities and capacities in producing products, services and technologies for the global market.

On the sidelines of the visit, officials from the Ministry of Economy will be negotiating two MoU’s, one on SME’S, and the other on innovation with the Malaysian side.

UAE trade delegation visits Malaysian

Technology Development

Corporation to explore partnerships

DOES the man in the street, who regularly shops at the pasar borong, really care that the fish he buys are free of diseases? Who pays attention to fulfilling the needs of the old folk in remote villages yearning for clean water, affordable to their level of income? What does an executive who drives a German marque has in mind when he happily swirls around corners while braking hard and enjoying his drive?

The three questions actually have some commonalities – technologies – and Malaysia has plenty to offer. But the question is whether the technologies are really up to the mark in addressing the needs of the users and to a greater extent, meeting the stringent requirements of the producers? Manufacturers or producers are constantly looking for new products or product lines to stay in business. This means that new products must be developed with demand in mind, hence, demand-driven research and development (R&D) should be given focus.

Every year, the Government spends about RM6.6bil in various R&D activities and the challenge is finding avenues for the technology-based products to enter the market. My ministry realises that commercialisation interventions need to be instituted and thus MOSTI Commercialisation Year was introduced in 2014 to create awareness and spur researchers to start thinking of the end in mind whenever they embark on a new journey of R&D.

The target is to commercialise up to 360 products by 2020 or on average, 60 products a year, for agencies under MOSTI. At the end of 2015, a total of 132 products were launched into the Malaysian market. The number of products commercialised in 2014 and 2015 is understandably small compared with the number of R&D projects funded by the Government.

As such, the Malaysia Commercialisation Year (MCY) was announced by the Prime Minister in Budget 2015, and MOSTI was entrusted to spearhead this initiative in 2016.

The country’s STI landscape consists of many players including Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd, Malaysia Innovation Agency and Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), government research institutions and public research universities. Recognising that there are many agencies, the Government feels that we should capitalise on this strength to catapult commercialisation. MCY 2016 therefore, will be different in terms of target and approach compared with the 2014 and 2015 commercialisation programme.

In this regard, the MCY programme is a collaborative effort between the Finance Ministry and MOSTI under the National Blue Ocean Strategy. This programme leverages on the collaboration and sharing of resources by various relevant agencies including the nine ministries

that conduct R&D activities, namely MOSTI, the Higher Education Ministry, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry, Communications and Multimedia Minsitry, Plantation Industry and Commodity Ministry, Health Ministry, Defence Ministry, Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, and Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry.

The question can still be asked about multiple ministries and agencies working in tandem to elevate commercialising of local technologies. For example, Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputra (Teraju) provides business opportunities, financing and human capital development, private investments and value creation. These initiatives are carried out through various ministries, private sector and government agencies at various levels.

How do we ensure that Teraju’s activities are linked to other initiatives and how do they collaborate with agencies like Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC), under MOSTI? MTDC has been a key player in commercialisation and has a good reputation in the promotion of technology-based companies in Malaysia. In actuality, Teraju and MTDC have started collaborating in the management of Teraju’s Superb programme where MTDC acts as Teraju’s technical arm in coaching and mentoring tech-based businesses funded by Teraju. This kind of collaborative partnership will be enhanced further under MCY.

MCY’s objective is to facilitate local R&D products and services into the market by introducing appropriate commercialisation interventions, such as investment and market promotions. The programme’s three-pronged approach includes enhancing synergy across various related agencies including R&D, promotions, investment and capacity building agencies, based on market-driven products and services and leverage on quick wins on the products and services.

To ensure a smooth implementation of MCY initiatives and activities, the Government is instituting a governing structure led by a steering committee, which is chaired by myself, that meets regularly with the nine ministries and other agencies. MCY is adopting the synergistic approach, which consists of six elements namely 1Promotional Campaign; 1Stop Centres; Capacity Building Programmes,

Industry Engagement, Shared Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and Information Services.

For the Shared KPI, all agencies, institutions and universities, which conduct research, development and commercialisation (R,D&C) activities have committed to commercialise at least five products/ services each by the end of 2016 as their Special KPI under MCY. The new target for MCY 2016, as such, is to commercialise a total of 145 technology-based products and services. This is a first in Malaysia where all R,D&C organisations consisting of 13 GRI, five research universities and

seven technology development agencies are working with other agencies via MOSTI to bring their products to the market.

The highlight of MCY 2016 is the MCY summit, scheduled from Nov 2-3 2016. The summit will feature international level conferences and exhibitions, product launch and awards. Ten winners will be selected among the Special KPI products and services. Each winner will receive RM100,000.

MOHE Targeting For 1,500 Teaching Staff With Entrepreneurship Skills By 2020PUTRAJAYA, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) aims to have 1,500 of its teaching workforce to be equipped with entrepreneurial skills and become business advisors to students’ business and entrepreneurial projects by 2020.

Higher Education director-general, Datuk Prof Dr Asma Ismail said the endeavour to develop its educators into becoming competent and enterprising across fields is in line with the aim of the Higher Education Institution Entrepreneur Action Plan 2016-2020.

Asma said the effort enabled the teaching workforce, who are significant ‘enablers’, to shift the students’ mindset from being merely job hunters to those who create job opportunities.

“I hope that these programmes could be diversified in the future to enable the educators to also be exposed to hands-on and experiential learning,” she said.

Asma said this in her speech during the closing ceremony for the MOHE entrepreneurship collaboration programme with Malaysia Technology Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (MTDC), ‘Industry Into Academia (i2A) - Transfer of Industry Knowledge into Academia Programme 2016’, here Friday.

She said, the five-day workshop that began on Aug 22, involving 120 of the teaching staff of polytechnics and community colleges nationwide, is hoped to be able to enhance innovation applied in teaching methods and students’ invention of products.

“It is also hoped that polytechnics and community colleges will be able to increase the number of teaching staff who are skilled in entrepreneurship education and commercialisation of technology,” she added.

Meanwhile, MTDC Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Norhalim Yunus said the workshop has been exposed to real time experience and hands-on learning on the importance of knowledge and technology transfer on products or services.

Norhalim said through collaboration established between the academia and government industries, it would spearhead the growth of the economy that is based on knowledge while spurring commercialisation and innovation.

As such, he hoped that educators would be able to create an ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship and carry out borderless transfer of knowledge.

Source: BERNAMASource: Arab TodaySource: Borneo Post

Source :

MTDC NEWS January - September 2016|9 8 | MTDC NEWS January - September 2016

Malaysian VC- PE industry has $1.74b committed funds at end-2015: SC

March 10, 2016: The total committed funds as at end of 2015 in the Malaysian venture capital and private equity (VCPE) industry stood at MYR7.15 billion ($1.74 billion), representing an increase of 15.18 per cent year-on-year championed mostly by public funds. The Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC) noted in its 2015 annual report that public funds remain the largest source of capital for the industry with sovereign wealth funds and government investment companies making up 49.76 per cent, while government agencies contributed 37.98 per cent. Private sector contribution to the industry world led by corparate investor (6.43 per cent) followed by foreign investors (1.97 per cent) and asset managers (1.45per cent), the report read.

“Top three registered corporations by amount of investor commitments as at end 2015 were Xeraya Capital Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund Management Ltd and the country’s largest venture fund Malaysian Venture Capital Management Bhd (MAVCAP). Xeraya Capital is linked to state investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd venture firm. Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund L.P. is a co-sponsored fund of Malaysian Technology Development Corporation Sdn Bhd, Burrill Venture Capital, Xeraya Capital and Spruce Capital Partners LLC specializing in early stage and late stage investments. It primarily invest in the areas of agriculture , industrial, and healthcare biotechnology in Malaysia.

2015 investments dipped 31.6%At the end of the year under review, the total investments decreased by 31.58 per cent to MYR2.22 billion ($540 million), from MYR3.25 billion ($790 million) as at the end of 2014. Investments made in 2015 stood at MYR365 million as compared to MYR318 million in 2014 representing an increase of 14.78 per cent year-on-year, with a total of 74 investee companies received funding, the same figure recorded in 2014. Divestments also saw a decline, of 3.33 per cent from MYR421 million ($102.36 million) in 2014 to MYR407 million ($98.95 million) in 2015. In this regard, 38 investee companies were divested in 2015 as compared to 59 companies in 2014. divestments recorded during the year were mainly through trade sales and IPOs or sale to public markets, SC reported.

There are 121 registered VCPE corporations as at December 31, 2015. Over the course of 2015, three companies were de-registered and 12 new registrations were approved, SC reported. With the VC PE Guidelines in effect in 2015, two additional types of registered corporations were introduced: PE Management Corporations (PEMC) and PE Corporations (PEC). DWA Private Equity Sdn Bhd and Maybank Private Equity Sdn Bhd were registered as PEMCs, with the latter completed its conversion from VCMC. As of end 2015, the number of VC and PE professionals employed in the industry with at least four years of experiences stood at 229.

The industry

EPC contract for Sarawak phosphate additives plant to be awarded soon

THE award for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the multi-billion ringgit phosphate additives plant being planned for Sarawak will be announced next week.

While on the face of it this may not be too exciting a development, it is part of a chain of events that will eventually lead to the completion of a reverse takeover of a little known Singapore-listed company called OLS Enterprise Ltd by one of the shareholders of the phosphate plant project.

In essence, a 40% stake in the planned integrated phosphate complex, which will be located in the Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu Sarawak, is being injected into OLS.

The said 40% stake is partly owned by Malaysian Technology Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (MTDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, together with several parties.

This means that MTDC will end up as one of the major shareholders of OLS.

OLS announced the reverse takeover proposal in May last year, involving a deal worth about US$222mil, according to filings on Singapore Exchange.

Essentially, a company called Malaysian Phosphate Additives Sdn Bhd (MPA) is being injected into OLS.

The owners of MPA are MTDC and private individuals, a joint venture that had began years ago to embark on building up phospate additive plants. MPA already has a 30,000m metric tonnes a year phosphate plant in Lumut, Perak.

MPA’s mainstay now is its 40% equity in Malaysian Phosphate Additives (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd (MPAS), which is the owner of the planned phosphate derivatives complex in Sarawak that aims to produce 16 times more than the Lumut plant, with a capacity of 500,000 mt a year. The other sharehodlers of the latter are Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and Tradewinds Corp Bhd that own 40% and 20% respectively.

It is understood that the RTO exercise will enable MPA to tap into Singapore market to raise funds for their portion of the RM1.9bil project.

The phosphate additives plant is reportedly to commence operations in 2018 and had already completed ground preparations for construction of the first phase.

The RTO is to be satisfied fully through an allotment and issue of OLS shares. The issue price is yet to be determined.

Upon the completion of the proposed acquisition of MPA, MTDC would own about 40% in MPA.

Under the proposed acquisition of MPA, OLS will inject RM10mil in MPA through a subscription of MPA convertible notes, which has 3% interest rate a year.The sum would be fully convertible into MPA shares of about 5% stake upon successful completion of the proposed acquisition.

The phosphate additive complex in Sarawak is estimated to have an annual production capacity of 500,000 metric tonnes, making it the largest in South-East Asia.

The complex is also expected to prduce 900,000 tonnes per

annum of coke and 100,000 tonnes per annum of ammonia, it has been reported.

Food phosphate is used mainly in crude palm oil refining and in the production of various types of food and beverages, cola fizzy drinks, food source for cakes and noodles while fertiliser phosphate is used in the production of compound fertiliser, nitrogen phosphorous potassium.

Sources said that the financing of the project is expected to be finalised after the EPC contract is signed.

It has been reported that the one of the main shareholder in MPAS, Cahya Mata Sarawak has announced a plan to raise RM1bil sukuk to partly finance its 40% stake in the plant.

“The main advantages to open a plant in Samalaju is because of cheaper electricity rate compared to in Peninsular Malaysia.

“It is also within the proximity of the Samalaju Port that would reduce the cost for logistics significantly and cheaper land price in the area compared to Lumut,” said an analyst.

It has been reported that MPA has signed a power purchase agreement term sheet with Syarikat Sesco Bhd, a unit of Sarawak Energy Bhd, for the supply of 150MW of power for the phosphate complex project.

It is understood that MPAS’s annual average revenue is estimated at RM2.9bil of which over 80% would be from export income.

The plant will provide jobs to some 1,200 people, including engineers and project supervisors.

Industries which are in operation in Samalaju Industrial Park are Press Metal Bhd’s aluminium smelter, Japan’s Tokuyama Corp’s polycrystalline silicon plant, OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd’s ferro silicon smelting plant and SIG Gases Bhd’s industrial gas plant.

Delegation visits MTDC to explore partnershipsKUALA LUMPUR: A UAE trade delegation visited the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, (MTDC), located in the Selangor area of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, to explore prospects and boost investment opportunities for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, SME’s, on both sides.

The high-ranking delegation, which on a 4-day visit, comprises more than 50 representatives from the Ministry of Economy and the Council of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Projects, SMEs Council, members of the public and private sectors from the UAE, businessmen, entrepreneurs, and other government officials.

The trip is also fully backed by the SME’s Council, the organisation’s first involvement in an official government visit.

Speaking after a presentation from MTDC officials, Abdullah Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade and Industry Affairs, who is leading the delegation, said, “The aim of this visit, aside from participating in the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Annual Showcase, SMIDEX, is to build a partnership with Malaysia and help connect our

companies with their Malaysian counterparts for the benefit of both sides.”

MTDC is a government-backed organisation founded in 1992 to provide integrated commercialisation solutions to help build world-class Malaysian technology companies through connecting start-up businesses with strategic partners. MTDC first identifies the products ready to be introduced to the market. So far, the corporation funds almost 700 Malaysian companies.

One of MTDC’s objectives is to also expand its international partnerships, and the UAE is one of the most influential countries the corporation hopes to break into.”The UAE has become a central hub for the GCC and Europe, and that’s why we have a strong interest in having a healthy relationship with the UAE.

We hope that after this visit we will build a platform for collaboration opportunities and expand our network there, especially with the government,” said Abdul Rahman Yasir, Senior Vice President at the Business Development Department in MTDC.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government via Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) Sdn Bhd has allocated RM60 million as grants for research and development (R&D) and product commercialisation for 2016.

Of the amount, RM40 million is for commercialisation of the local R&Dfund, the technology acquisition fund (RM10 million) and business start-up fund (RM10 million).

MTDC chief executive officer Datuk Norhalim Yunus said the funds are crucial for local companies to expand their businesses at home and in the global market.

“The agency will act as a mediator to push for more collaboration between local and foreign companies. This is especially for the transfer of technology and opportunities to find partners in entering new markets,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Business Meeting Asia 2016 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

MTDC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, is in charge of promoting the adoption of technologies by local companies via commercialisation of R&D or acquisition of foreign technologies.

In the 11th Malaysia Plan, the Government doubled grants for R&D and commercialisation to RM500

million, compared with RM297 million in the 10th Plan.Meanwhile, the one-day Business Meeting Asia 2016, co-organised by MTDC and Korea’s Asian Science Park Association (ASPA) attracted 34 foreign companies from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

More than 30 local companies from various clusters, namely information, communication and technology, biotech, electronics, robotics, healthcare and machinery, also participated.

ASPA secretary-general Dr Sunkook Kwon said the organisation holds one or more multilateral business meetings annually in the Asian region with the participation of small and medium enterprises.

“Companies are able to seek partnerships, which can create a synergy effect in the international market, with the advantage of rapidly adjusting to the changes in high technology and sprawl out anywhere in the world,” he said in his opening speech.

In a separate update, MTDC is expected to manage the halal technology development fund, to be announced next month. At present, MTDC is managing five government funds involving R&D and commercialisation.

Govt allocates RM60m as R&D and commercialisation grants

Source: The Star OnlineSource : The Star

Source: The Guld Today

MTDC NEWS January - September 2016|11 10 | MTDC NEWS January - September 2016

Usahawan di bawah danaMOSTI diminta komersialkan hasil penyelidikan untuk kegunaan umumTiada ada yang tidak kena dengan hasil penyelidikan saintis tempatan di mana mana juga sama ada institusi penyelidikan dan universiti awam atau syarikat persendirian.

Hanya satu masalah yang disering membelenggu mereka iaitu bagaimana menjualnya untuk kegunaan umum kerana penyelidik atau pereka cipta bukan pakar pemasaran dan pengkomersialan.

Justeru, apabila kerajaan menerusi Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi (MOSTI) memperkenal Tahun Pengkomersialan sejak 2010 sehinggalah kepada Tahun Pengkomersialan Malaysia (MCY) 2016, ada cabaran besar menanti iaitu sejauh mana pengguna atau rakyat Malaysia secara keseluruhannya menerima produk berkenaan.

Stigma telah lama bersarang dalam kalangan pengguna kita antaranya termasuklah produk import lebih berkualiti berbanding tempatan dan mengagungkan jenama luar negara.

Penyelidik di universiti pula tidak melihat sejauh mana hasil penyelidikan tersebut perlu dijual atau sebaliknya kerana bagi mereka, menerbitkan jurnal dan melahirkan pelajar sarjana dan doktor falsafah lebih penting, sekurang-kurangnya sebagai penanda aras untuk kenaikan pangkat.

Namun bagi MOSTI, tidak ada yang lebih membanggakan apabila duit rakyat yang digunakan untuk penyelidikan menerusi pelbagai dana menghasilkan dua kejayaan iaitu usahawan dan produk untuk kegunaan orang ramai.

Pengumuman telah dibuat beberapa kali sebelum ini, bahawa kementerian berkenaan menjangkakan 145 lagi produk hasil penyelidikan dan pembangunan (R&D) dikomersialkan tahun ini.

Sehingga April lalu, sebanyak 132 daripada 360 produk inovasi yang disasarkan pada 2020, dihasilkan oleh institusi penyelidikan, universiti dan

agensi pembangunan teknologi, telah memasuki pasaran.

Ia sejajar dengan matlamat MCY 2016, untuk mengkomersialkan 147 produk sehingga hujung tahun ini. Timbalan Menterinya, Datuk Dr. Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah berkata, kejayaan hasil R&D bukan dapat dinikmati dalam tempoh masa yang singkat, sebaliknya mengharungi beberapa fasa dan memerlukan dana tertentu mengikut peringkat pengkomersialan.

“Tidak ada saat yang paling menggembirakan (apabila) melihat wang yang kita belanjakan (dana R&D) menghasilkan produk untuk dimanfaatkan,” ujarnya.

Beliau menyatakan demikian dalam sidang akhbar sempena pelancaran tujuh produk syarikat BioNexus sempena persidangan dan pameran BioMalaysia dan Bioekonomi Asia Pasifik edisi ke-14 di ibu negara baru-baru ini.Beliau berkata, kerja-kerja penyelidikan produk yang dilancarkan itu berkemungkinan dimulakan pada Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan (RMK-9) atau RMK-10 menunjukkan ia mengambil masa panjang

untuk dihasilkan sebelum menjadi satu hasil yang boleh dikomersialkan.

Terdahulu dalam ucapannya beliau meminta usahawan yang berhasrat mengkomersialkan produk mereka supaya bermula dari peringkat yang mudah dan perlu belajar dari bawah.

“Mungkin kita perlu merendah diri dahulu atau mula jual di pasar malam, ujarnya.

Dalam pada itu beliau memberitahu, penganjuran program tersebut adalah sejajar dengan matlamat kementeriannya mengembangkan industri bioteknologi yang dterajui Malaysia Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp) atau nama baharunya BioEconomy dengan pelancaran produk syarikat BioNexus membuktikan kejayaan syarikat industri kecil dan sederhana (IKS).

Penganjuran progam kali ini yang dihadiri kira-kira 10,000 pelawat dan 200 pempamer yang bertemakan Memberi Nilai Tambah Ekonomi Menerusi Teknologi Berasaskan Bio adalah bertujuan membantu industri bioteknologi berkembang di rantau Asia Pasifik dan

sebagai platform berkongsi perkembangan terkini bidang sains dan perniagaan daripada pemain industri.

Pengerusi BiotechCorp, Prof. Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid pula berkata, produk yang dihasilkan oleh syarikat yang diberi taraf BioNexus boleh membantu meningkatkan keyakinan pengguna dan mempromosikan aktiviti ekonomi domestik.

“Produk yang dilancarkan hari ini dapat menyumbangkan hasil dan merangsang pertumbuhan ekonomi. Janaan hasil daripada syarikat berstatus BioNexus telah meningkat sebanyak 50 peratus dari 2012 hingga 2015 dengan jumlah RM1.53 bilion dicatatkan pada tahun lalu,’’ kata beliau.

Dalam pada itu, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif BioEconomy Corp, Datuk Dr. Mohd. Nazlee Kamal berkata, pelancaran produk

BioNexus dapat mempercepat agenda bioekonomi dengan memfokuskan komoditi perniagaan kepada produk bernilai tinggi dengan diberi nilai tambah dengan memanfaatkan bioteknologi.

“Oleh kerana kita telah memasuki Revolusi Industri Keempat, kita mahu pemain industri berasasakan bio dalam rakyat Malaysia memanfaatkan gabungan teknologi utama seperti bioteknologi, teknologi nano, teknologi digital atau biologi sintetik untuk menjana produk baharu yang inovatif dan pasaran baharu dan yang sedia ada,’’ujarnya.

Kesemua produk hasil keluaran syarikat BioNexus boleh didapati di kedai-kedai BioShoppe selain mendapatkan secara atas talian menerusi lazada.com.my

MOSTI sasar komersialkan produk inovasi

GEORGETOWN: Kerajaan sudah memperuntukkan sejumlah RM25 juta bagi memastikan 80 produk penyelidik tempatan dapat dikomersialkan sepanjang tahun ini. Timbalan Menteri Sains, Teknologi, dan Inovasi (MOSTI), Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah, berkata pihaknya memperuntukkan sehingga RM500,000 di bawah program Geran Inovasi Sosial bagi membantu pengeluaran setiap produk yang dihasilkan penyelidik.

Katanya, penyelidik sememangnya digalak melakukan penyelidikan produk yang berpotensi agar manfaatnya dapat dirasai masyarakat. “Pengkomersialan produk penyelidikan terbahagi kepada banyak kategori termasuk elektronik, pertanian, akademik dan lain-lain lagi yang mampu membantu masyarakat melalui inovasi terbaharu itu.

“Langkah pengkomersialan ini bertujuan membantu membina kemahiran baharu dalam kalangan masyarakat dan meningkatkan pendapatan penyelidik,” katanya pada sidang media selepas merasmikan Kongres Antarabangsa Malakologi 2016 di sini, pagi tadi. Kongres yang pertama kalinya diadakan di Malaysia itu dianjurkan Pusat Pengajian Sains Kajihayat, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

Sementara itu, beliau berkata, penyelidik USM turut diiktiraf di peringkat antarabangsa apabila kajian spesies tiram yang dilaksanakan sejak 25 tahun lalu, berjaya menghasilkan benih berkualiti yang mampu memberikan hasil kira-kira 2,000 tiram dalam tempoh sebulan. “Inovasi ini memberi manfaat kepada nelayan apabila pendapatan bulanan mereka sejak empat tahun lalu, berjaya ditingkatkan kepada iaitu kira-kira RM4,500 sebulan bagi jumlah tiram yang dituai. “MOSTI sedia terus membantu lebih banyak pengkomersialan inovasi daripada USM yang mampu mengubah hidup masyarakat serta memberi manfaat kepada pendapatan negara,” katanya.

Timbalan Menteri Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah semasa sidang media selepas merasmikan kongres antarabangsa berkaitan kajian kerang-kerangan dan siput, World Congress of Malacology 2016 (WCM2016) kali ke-19 di Hotel Jen, Georgetown. - foto Shahnaz Fazlie Shahrizal

Source : BH Online

Source : Utusan Online

MTDC wujud syarikat bernilai RM100 juta

Norhalim Yunus (dua dari kanan) beramah mesra dengan anak-anak yatim dari Rumah Anak Kesayanganku Bukit Beruntung dan Rumah Anak Yatim Darul Fuqahah Bangi pada Majlis Jalinan Inovasi Aidilfitri Komuniti Disayangi 2016 anjuran MTDC di Kuala Lumpur, semalam. utusan/Mohd. Farizwan Hasbullah

KUALA LUMPUR 14 Julai - Malaysia Technology De -velopment Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (MTDC) yakin syarikat penerima da nanya yang mempunyai nilai RM1 bilion dapat disenaraikan di Bursa Malaysia menjelang akhir tahun ini.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya, Datuk Norhalim Yunus berkata, penyenaraian syarikat penerima dana tersebut sejajar dengan rancangan jangka sederhana MTDC untuk mewujudkan lebih ba nyak syarikat bernilai RM100 juta menjelang tahun 2020.

Beliau berkata, pihaknya

mahu syarikat-syarikat yang menerima dana MTDC memperluas kan perniagaan mereka untuk menjadi lebih maju dan berdaya saing dengan menerokai pasaran eksport.

“Syarikat yang dijangka dapat disenaraikan tersebut adalah Malaysian Phosphate Additive Sdn. Bhd. yang terlibat dalam sektor kimia dan nilai syarikat kira-kira RM1 bilion.

“Selain itu, sektor minyak dan gas juga antara sektor yang diberi tumpuan kerana sudah terdapat beberapa syarikat tempatan termasuk bumiputera yang telah mengeksport produk mereka ke luar negara. Sektor

Ciptaan pelajar UNITEN raih anugerahKuala Lumpur: Kejayaan menghasilkan produk daripada sabut kelapa dan hampas tebu untuk meningkatkan tahap keselamatan penghadang jalan raya membolehkan pelajar Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) memenangi pingat emas di Ekspo Teknologi Malaysia (MTE) 2016 di sini, kelmarin.

Pelajar semester kedua pengajian doktor falsafah (PhD) Kejuruteraan Mekanikal Zulkarnain Jamak berkata, lebih 400 produk disenaraikan dalam pertandingan yang berlangsung pada 18 hingga 20 Februari lalu.Menurutnya, walaupun itu adalah penyertaan pertamanya bersama pasukan UNITEN namun semangat berpasukan membuatkan mereka mampu menghadapi segala cabaran di dalam pertandingan itu.

“Antara fokus yang dibuat dalam kajian ‘High Impact Guardrail Using Recycle Materials’ adalah

Tinggi Swasta (IPTS), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) dan Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM).

Ia dianjurkan menerusi kerjasama antara Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi (MOSTI), Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi (KPT),

Kementerian Pendidikan (KPM), Perbadanan Pembangunan Teknologi Malaysia (MTDC), Pusat Pembangunan Rekabentuk Malaysia (DDEC), Agensi Nuklear Malaysia (Nuklear Malaysia) dan Protemp Sdn Bhd.

membabitkan bahan buangan terpakai seperti sabut kelapa dan hampas tebu.

“Adunan dan penghasilan semula bahan terpakai ini mampu meningkatkan tahap keselamatan sesebuah penghadang jalan raya, sekali gus menyelamatkan nyawa pengguna,” katanya menerusi kenyataan di sini, semalam.

Pertandingan itu m e n g h i m p u n k a n pelbagai produk penyelidikan untuk diketengahkan kepada masyarakat dan industri.

Selain UNITEN, antara pasukan yang menyertai pertandingan itu ialah Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), Sekolah Menengah Sains, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP), universiti awam (UA), Institusi Pengajian

lain yang diberi penekanan adalah makanan dan perubatan termasuk peralatan perubatan,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika ditemui pada Majlis Jalinan Inovasi Aidilfitri Komuniti Disayangi MTDC di sini hari ini.

Yang turut hadir Timbalan Menteri Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, Datuk Dr. Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah.

Majlis dihadiri oleh kira-kira 1,200 jemputan terdiri daripada penerima dana MTDC itu turut meraikan anak-anak yatim.

Norhalim berkata, majlis ter-babit bukan sahaja diadakan untuk meraikan penerima dana sempena Hari Raya tetapi juga dapat memberi peluang kepada golongan terbabit berinteraksi sesama sendiri dan mewujudkan peluang usahasama.

“Pada majlis begini mereka boleh bertemu dan mencari pe luang perniagaan serta usahasama antara satu sama lain. Selain itu, syarikat-syarikat baharu juga dapat menimba ilmu daripada syarikat-syarikat yang telah berjaya,” ujarnya.

Peruntukkan sehingga

RM500,000 di bawah program Geran Inovasi

Source : Utusan Online

Source : Mymetro

12 | MTDC NEWS January - September 2016

Refining Malaysia’s innovation ecosystemIn an ideal innovative world, an academic comes up with a brilliant idea, a corporation buys it, mass produces the product and makes a fortune, the academic gets promoted, the university rating goes up and the country becomes prosperous. In reality, corporations and universities are two very different institutions with vastly diverged culture and motivation. Universities gear their rewards towards producing high-indexed innovative research or papers, whereas industry wants to get the best bang for its buck.

The result is a sub-optimal level of innovation and value creation, not to mention finger-pointing. On one hand, the ingrained labelling by industry practitioners is that universities in Malaysia are disconnected from reality. Worse is when practitioners begin to ignore universities altogether. On the other, researchers are uncomfortable with corporations being too hung up over bottom lines and intellectual property. Another important factor is a lack of patriotism when it comes

to appreciating local innovation. According to Universiti Malaya professors Rajah Rasiah and Xiao-Shan Yap in the Global Innovation Index 2015 report, the chronic deficit in royalty and licensing fee receipts and payments demonstrates the country’s continuous heavy reliance on foreign technology and services. It means that Malaysian firms don’t reject innovation outright, but they have been more outward rather than inward looking.

For a country that aims to break into the advanced economy league, innovation in our country isn’t in a great state and this is reflected by various indicators. Take for example, manufacturing value added (MVA) per capita which captures the country’s level of industrialisation. This sector is relevant to the debate because innovation is at the heart of making things. Statistics from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) show that Malaysia’s MVA per capita only grew by a measly 6.2 per cent between 2008 and 2013, when other countries are

growing much faster. South Korea grew 23.8 per cent, Singapore (22.4 per cent) and China (44.9 per cent) over the same period.

In addition, the share of medium and high technology MVA in Malaysia’s manufacturing, capturing the technological complexity of this sector is only 42.1 per cent in 2013, while China, South Korea and Singapore’s shares are 44 per cent, 63.1 per cent and 81.2 per cent respectively. While the figures above paint a gloomy picture, it also shows that our universities can play a much greater role in driving innovation. During a conference in Universiti Sains Malaysia last year, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah revealed that despite RM924 million being allocated for research projects in the 10th Malaysia Plan, only 63 products were successfully commercialised. He, thus, urged researchers to focus on products with commercial potential.

Overcoming cultural differences

and making industry-university partnership work require a huge leap. Needless to say, distortionary incentives that lead to academics churning out hundreds of ideas which end up being bottled up on shelves must be done away with. But at the same time, expecting researchers to worry about the bankability of their outputs could be a tad too much.

In other words, let’s leave the right tasks to the right people. While it’s reasonable to expect researchers to pitch their inventions to corporations, most of the time they aren’t businessmen. They may lack the capability, network or know-how to bring their innovative products to the marketplace and make them sell well — these are the forte of entrepreneurs and firms.

Here is where the role of intermediaries — organisations that function as a connector between industry and universities — comes to play. There are several models around such as incubators, cluster networks, venture capitalists, alliances, and technology transfer offices.

In Malaysia, a number of government agencies have been set up for such purpose, such as the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT)

and Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST), but there are also non-governmental and non-profit outfits around.

One such outfit is the Human Life Advancement Foundation that seeks to increase higher commercialisation rate of university research in the field of science, technology and sustainability, such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and biotechnology through its capacity building and networking programmes with investors and corporations. They are less visible to the public due to their size, but they can certainly act as a “catapult centre” if given necessary support.

In short, our government has never been idle in sparking greater industry-academia collaboration. But, in a world where the rest are moving fast if not faster, perhaps encouraging more market solutions to close the industry-academia divide and moving further away from depending on government grants is the more efficient way to go. Mazlena Mazlan is an independent researcher

Bioalpha banks on Indonesian,Chinese markets for growth

BANGI: Bioalpha Holdings Bhd is banking on its export markets in Indonesia and China to boost the group’s top line growth in the next two years.

The firm, which produces halal-certified herbal and non-herbal based health supplement products, said that to date, Indonesia was its core market and expected sales from the region to grow by 50% in the next two years.

At present, Indonesia sales made up more than 48%, or RM14mil, to the group’s turnover in financial year 2015 (FY15).

“Indonesia’s market is still growing and in the last five years it has a compounded annual growth rate of about 37%,” managing director William Hon Tian Kok told StarBiz recently.

Hon said Bioalpha had gone into Indonesia after it recognised the huge potential in the market to offer its halal-certified products.

“The risk in Indonesia is also lower because we have existed in the market since 2007 via our first sales office there,” noted Hon.

But Hon has bigger plans for Indonesia, saying that the company aimed to turn its repackaging facility in the Riau province to a fully-fledged manufacturing plant in the long term.

In May, Bioalpha’s unit Bioalpha International Sdn Bhd had entered into 60:40 joint venture with Mutia Restiana, a well-connected Indonesian to set up PT Herbal Malindo Makmur, for US$250,000.

This was funded via internally generated funds.

Hon said the PT Herbal’s acquisition not only solved product registration issues in Indonesia, but also enabled the group to repackage their semi-finished products in a 4,000 sq ft repackaging facility in Indonesia to be ready this August.Inevitably, the acquisition will also widen Bioalpa’s market share via small and medium enterprises and multinational corporations in Indonesia, and enable its existing clients in Malaysia to offer their products there, according to Hon.

The group intends to double the number of product launches to 20 products in Indonesia by the end of 2017.

Bioalpha’s second largest export market is China and it made up about 28% of the group’s revenue or RM8.3mil in FY15.

While Bioalpha was backed by its strong research and development centre, Hon said the demand from China was a result of aggressive advertising and promotional activities that started in 2014.

“We have about five original design manufacturers in Beijing.

“And our focus will be the Muslim populated areas like Lanzhou, Xi’an, Xinjiang and Qinghai and we have identified four distributors in these provinces,” he said, adding that Bioalpla already has presence in the southern and central part of China.

On the local front, Hon revealed that it was on the lookout to expand its retail chain of pharmacies via merger and acquisitions, with the idea of franchising them in the near term.

Bioalpha now owns 13 retail pharmacies under the brandname Constant, mainly in the Klang Valley.

Hon said Bioalpha bought Mediconstant Holding Sdn Bhd for

RM5mil last year from Ng See Hein and Loh Peng Yeow in December last year with the aim to expand its housebrand supplements.

“This not only reduce marketing costs but enable us to reach out to customers via new formulations,” he said. adding that domestic sales is expected to grow by 40% in the next two years.

The company also has a 70:30 joint venture with MyAngkasa Holdings Sdn Bhd, the country’s largest cooperative organisation.

MyAngkasa is a subsidiary of Angkatan Koperasi Kebanngsaan Malaysia Bhd that has 10,000 cooperatives under its umbrella and eight million members.

“The earnings potential from this JV is also huge considering that the members can purchase our products on a special discount from our retail pharmacies,” he added.

Bioalpha has its own organic herbal farms in Desaru in Johor and Pasir Raja in Trengganu.

More than 20 types of herbs are being harvested at its 300-acre land in Desaru, Kota Tinggi.

The other is a 1,000-acre farm in Pasir Raja, of which 123 acres are harvested, while the remaining 877 acres are currently being cleared.

Hon said the company expected to produce about 400 metric tonnes of herbal medicines by 2020.The group is also known for its inhouse liquid fermentation process that is able to produce medicinal mushrooms strains.

One of its bestsellers include tiger milk mushrooms, traditionally used to cure respiratory problems.

Noteworthy is Bioalpha’s market capitalisation, which has more than doubled to about RM200mil now, compared to when it was first listed in the Ace Market in April, last year.

The company has dividend policy of 30% of profit after tax and has recently proposed for a bonus issue of 166,666,666 new ordinary shares of RM0.05 each in the company on the basis of one bonus share for every three existing Bioalpha shares held at an entitlement date to be determined later.Hon is currently the major shareholder with a 17% stake, followed by Malaysian Technology Development Corp 16.1% interest and Perbadanan Nasional Bhd 10.3%.

Shares of Bioalpha closed unchanged at 38 sen on Friday, arriving at a market capitalisation of RM190mil.

Source :

Source :