دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی چشم انداز بیوتکنولوژی و زیست محیطی در مالزی - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

Since 1990s Malaysia aspired to make biotechnology and bioeconomy as her engines of economic growth to utlise the abundance of natural resources and biodiversity. The public sector plays an integral role in developing the sector and various incentives are in place for the private sector to be actively involved and to forge collaboration with the public sector. The country launched its National Biotechnology Policy in 2005 and later launched its National Bioeconomy Programme in 2010 to become the first country in South East Asia and second in Asia after China to have such an initiative. Malaysia is also very proactive in its biosafety law and regulations and has most of the related legal instrument in place. A lot of success has been recorded since the inception of the National Biotechnology Policy in terms of job creation, contribution to GDP through biobusinesses and investment from foreign companies, but the sector is not spared from challenges too. Due to the nature of the discipline that is multidisciplinary and that requires huge amount of investment, expertise and political will, there are a lot of barriers before the country emerges as a bioeconomy player. This paper discusses the public policies, initiatives and funding mechanisms in place in Malaysia that drive its research, development and commercialisation in the area of biotechnology and bioeconomy. The authors also discuss the challenges faced in Malaysia in implementing the policies.

Conclusion

Malaysia has a strong potential to develop the biotechnology sector, but there is a need to evaluate the current system and practices to set the right priorities and enhance the country’s capabilities and competitiveness in this area. Biotechnology innovation should be focused for future needs and not today’s needs. Market needs are changing at a rapid rate with Malaysia’s rapid growth and modernisation and this has to be understood by the research community. Malaysia has done well in developing the policies and now the effort should go into implementing it with a strong political will. There is a need to change the funding mechanism, research culture and the mindset about commercialisation. Policymakers should understand that the gestation period for biotechnology innovation is longer than other industry. They need the stamina to see the fruition of research, otherwise researchers will be pushed into producing low-hanging fruits and this will only delay or stifle the country’s goal to go global. In order for biotechnology and bioeconomy to be sustainable in Malaysia, it should be not just be government or researchercentric. A weak sustainability model is primarily based on one attribute like the public sector but we need a strong model which is based on multiple attributes so we need to focus on accessibility for funding, talent development, government policies, market needs, industry collaboration and other relevant attributes. These areas have been the focus but more should be done to strengthened them through better implementation.