Country Economic Work for Malaysia - Islamic Development Bank

esearchers and technicians in R&D per million people has grown, respectively, from 90 and 31
in 1996 to 503 and 63 in 2004. However, in 2006 (the latest available data), both researchers and
technicians declined, respectively, to 372 and 44 per million, indicating significant brain drain
from the country and inconsistent with the growing population and country’s needs. Further,
Malaysia considerably lags behind with competing countries, for example, researchers and
technicians in Singapore in 2006 were 5,736 and 549 per million; Hong Kong (2,650 and 459),
Korea (4,187 and 587) (Tables 1.5 and 1.6). This gap is negatively affecting the technological
capabilities and innovative capacity of Malaysia, therefore, appears to be a binding constraint to
economic growth. The number of researchers and technicians in Malaysia is below compared to
Table 1.6: Malaysia: Technicians in R&D (per million people)
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Malaysia 31 43 40 57 63 44
Hong Kong 218 197 206 173 226 314 424 341 459
India 112 100 86 94
Korea, Rep. 635 581 534 567 457 456 499 571 585 552 587 720
Philippines 11 10
Singapore 315 369 352 369 338 352 385 412 485 557 549 529
Thailand 38 73 85 113 204 160
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Technicians participate in R&D by performing scientific and technical tasks involving the application
of concepts and operational methods, normally under the supervision of researchers.
the level of regional competitors. The deficits have been persistent as the supply of researchers
and technicians has not kept up with the pace of economic development in Malaysia. Adequate
skills of the workforce are also important in the innovation process.
56. In order to address the talent needs arising from key industries driving the national
economic transformation agenda, the Prime Minister of Malaysia unveiled a comprehensive
Talent Roadmap 2020. 16 The Government plans to address the underlying issues affecting talent
availability and to identify shortages in key sectors and attract and retain the necessary skilled
human capital. The Talent Roadmap identifies three strategic thrusts for talent interventions
namely: Optimise Malaysian Talent; Attract And Facilitate Global Talent; and Build Networks of
Top Talent. The first Strategic Thrust focuses on optimizing Malaysian talent, recognizing that
ultimately Malaysian talent is the most important and sustainable pipeline of talent to meet the
needs of future development. At the same time, the second Strategic Thrust of attracting and
facilitating global talent recognizes that with the fast changing economic requirements,
Malaysians abroad and foreign talent are an important source to complement Malaysians to drive
16 Speech delivered by the Prime Minister of Malaysia on the launching of the “Talent Roadmap 2020” on 24 April
2012 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.
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