Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products in Malaysia
tices. Strategic initiatives are now being put in place to enable biotechnology to play a core role
in advancing the agricultural sector. Industries targeted for improvement include palm oil, rice,
cocoa, fruits, flowers, ornamentals, vegetables, and the herbal and medicinal industries as well as
agro-based downstream industries.
Agrobiotechnology
The policy on agrobiotechnology was introduced in the National Agricultural Policy in
1998 (revised version: 1998–2010). Its goal is to accelerate development of the agricultural
sector to complement conventional practices and technologies.
Malaysia relaunched its biotechnology policy on 28 April 2005 with the aim of creating an
environment conducive to R&D and industrial development while leveraging on the country’s
existing areas of strength. The new policy is supported by nine policy thrusts, with agricultural
biotechnology development as the first, demonstrating the seriousness and commitment of the
government. Malaysia’s biotechnology policy is reprinted in Appendix 1.
Information on agrobiotechnology products and marketing is scarce. Current statistics on
transgenic crops, GMO crops, crops produced via tissue culture, and other products and involvement
by farmers and companies are based on conjecture and projections. In strengthening
the economic foundation for the development of agrobiotechnology, the government will provide
support in the form of R&D and HRD programs. This includes developing favorable
policies on agrobiotechnology funds for research and introducing legislation to regulate access
to genetic resources, intellectual property rights, and incentives to companies and investors participating
in agrobiotechnology. Joint ventures between the public and private sectors have also
been intensified. Projects include the participation of companies and institutions from other
countries. Biotechnology in agricultural development has been accorded a higher priority and
greater emphasis.
The government recognizes that biotechnology processes such as genetic engineering have
the potential to increase production and productivity in the agricultural sector. Malaysia is
among the few ASEAN countries that have approved the use of GM food crops as human food
and animal feed. It has successfully conducted field trials of GMOs and has developed guidelines
for their release. GM activities and products are governed by guidelines formulated by the
Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC), which has published the National Guidelines
for Release of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into the Environment. The
National Guidelines have been revised and drafted into a new piece of legislation, the Malaysian
Biosafety Bill, which will be considered in Parliament in December 2005. Under these guidelines,
commercialization of biotech crops requires GMAC approval for all field evaluations.
GMO release into the environment is currently restricted to research fields. Malaysia has also set
up a National Biosafety Central Body to be responsible for monitoring biotechnology activities.
The biotechnology industry in Malaysia consists of companies specializing in biotechnology,
biopharmaceuticals, bioinformatics, and agricultural biotechnology that focus on a range
of products such as tissue culture, diagnostics, vaccine production, and blood bank collection.
Companies involved in agricultural biotech are primarily plantation (palm oil), herbal-based, and
aquaculture companies. There are currently 20 companies involved in agricultural biotechnology
activities and registered with the Biotechnology Directorate, Ministry of Science, Technology,
and Innovation. Companies and their main activities are listed in Appendix 2.
ISSUES, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES
Issues and Challenges
The new biotechnology-related industries face a number of issues and challenges. For
example, Malaysia still lacks R&D facilities and expertise in biotechnology. In 2003, Malaysia
had only 23,262 research personnel, and only 15,000 of them were researchers. Of these, fewer
– 133 –