KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI), a recently-launched agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), on November 10 laid out its mission to drive higher “return on ideas” in the research and development to commercialisation space.
MRANTI, a convergence of Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) and the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), aims to accelerate the process, raise the profile and expand the portfolio of ready to market technology and innovation developed in Malaysia.
MaGIC’s programmes have impacted 2,800 startups and created an economic value of RM2.1 billion, while TPM has brought in more than RM1 billion in total investments by providing world class infrastructure and a comprehensive eco-system to businesses.
Ideated from Meranti, the world’s tallest tropical tree, with a canopy and far reaching, strong roots, MRANTI will galvanise the country’s technology and commercialisation landscape through its strong network branching across diverse industries, and a solid foundation rooted in technology and innovation to elevate Malaysians to the global stage.
MRANTI will commence its operations come January 2022, serving as a one-stop agency with resources to support technology development, market access, prototyping and testing, funding, facilitation and more.
Malaysia’s scientific research output increased by 4.5 times between 2008 and 2018. Recent data from the Malaysian Science and Technology Information Centre (MASTIC) show that the country’s commercialisation rates sit anywhere between 5% to10%, a drop from 8.3% from between 2005 and 2015.
Meanwhile, countries such as China and Korea have commercialisation rates at above 30%, and the rates in highly developed economies such as Japan and USA are reportedly as high as 60%.
MRANTI aims to enable Malaysian research to be more mission focussed. According to Dzuleira Abu Bakar, CEO, TPM, MRANTI is developing an Ideas to Impact blueprint. “In other words, we are looking creatively at ways to spur the development of products and solutions which can be more affordable, available and accessible towards improving quality of life for all Malaysians.”
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