By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Ikhwan Hashim

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 21, 2016 – Research grants provided by the Higher Education Ministry for year 2016 remains unchanged at RM470 million.

The Higher Education Minister, Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh said despite the current economic uncertainty, the grants are maintained because research has become part-and-parcel of the university.

“The fundamental research programmes led by the ministry are very important to produce continuous knowledge. So, a Research University will continue to be given funds to implement activities based on the production of the RDCI talent, excellence in research and the generation of wealth for the public,” he said in 2016 New Year Message here on Jan 18.

He said recently an ASEAN Research Landscape report published by Thompson Reuters showed that research in Malaysia has been growing as much as 594 percent between 2005 until 2014.

“Malaysia’s growth is more than ASEAN i.e. 189 percent, USA 34 percent, EU 46 percent and the world 36 percent.

“Alhamdulillah, this show that the government’s investment into research efforts of the research university projects since 10 years ago have been successful,” he said.

He said the ministry will fine-tune research programmes to focus on helping Malaysia’s  Bottom 40, Islamic Banking, Tropical Diseases and youth empowerment as well as civic consciousness and national heritage.

“Research-driven and demand-driven industries will be stepped up for certain sectors to resolve problems in industry and community,” he said.

Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh said for this year, he urged Higher Education Institutions to focus on industry partnership which will lead to commercialisation of ideas.

“In the  context of innovation,  R&D findings could lead to the commercialisation of products and the commercialisation of ideas.

“Commercialisation of ideas is when the universities provide consultancy services  and solutions for industry, deliver training, publish books and carry out research contracts,” he explained.

He stated that between 2007 and 2011, Research On Investment from commercialisation of ideas amounted to RM1.25 billion and can become a good income source for the institutions and nation.

“InsyaAllah, through the Quadruple Helix approach and commercialisation of ideas, Malaysians will be able to feel the impact of results of higher education,” he said.

In a related development, he revealed that at the end of 2015, the number of international students in Malaysia exceeded 114,000 and has contributed to more than RM3.3 billion to national income.

“We are targeting international students’ admission to our country at 200,000 people with a turnover of RM15.6 billion contributing to the national economy by 2020,” he added.