Malaysia on course towards full-fledged k-economy

MALAYSIA is on track to become a full-fledged knowledge-based economy and achieve developed nation status by 2020, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk S. K. Devamany.

He said the government is going all out to provide incentives and a platform for the private sector to lead on several private-public initiatives towards a knowledge-based economy (k-economy).

"We have to move fast towards this direction because otherwise we will lag behind our neighbours such as Vietnam and Indonesia," Devamany told reporters in Putrajaya yesterday.He had earlier delivered a speech at a seminar on "Knowledge Content in Key Economic Sectors in Malaysia Phase II".

"In this case, we (Malaysia) are at an advantage because we already have the platform. All we have to do now is to change mindsets such as boosting innovation to become global players and not do businesses the traditional way which is to focus only on making profits," he added.

Meanwhile, findings of the Knowledge Content Study Phase II showed that financial constraints and lack of English speaking workers were the most common limitations to further improvements to knowledge content, information and communications technology (ICT) utilisation and worker skills.

The study came about as Malaysia has set its vision to become a knowledge-based economy, thus the need to assess the country's knowledge readiness and progress over time at industry level.The study has also found that the agriculture sector was most likely to indicate the problems listed, while the transportation equipment and automotive industries were most likely to indicate constraints in the ICT and skill improvement areas.

The second phase of the knowledge content assessment was based on the Knowledge Content Study Phase I which was carried out in 2007, surveying 2,433 firms in 21 industries.