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.
