Good
news to enthusiasts who are pursuing biotechnology or any other related
fields such as biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. Oh ya,
it's only a good news if you want to work in the government sector of
Malaysia..:) or like me, obligated to work...hey, please don't misinterpret..I feel proud being able to serve my country..
Biotech policy:
Investors can expect tax incentives, pioneer status
BY TEOH TEIK HOONG
PETALING JAYA: Investors can expect tax incentives and pioneer status
among other perks when the Government unveils its biotechnology policy on April
28.
The Government wants to push biotechnology, which is seen as the country’s
new growth area, to boost the economy and create thousands of highly skilled
jobs.
The biotechnology sector is expected to contribute 5% to Gross National
Product by 2020.
The Government is also likely to create an agency to co-ordinate and
implement new policies that can eliminate red tape and ensure efficiency in
biotechnology operations.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to announce
details of the nation’s biotechnology drive at the BioMalaysia 2005 conference
in Putrajaya on April 28, which will be attended by international biotechnology
investors, scientists, financiers and policymakers.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis
said the Government wanted the biotechnology sector to be “knowledge-based
rather than physical-based.”
“We will go where the knowledge is and build on it. A biotechnology plant
doesn’t need to be confined geographically or by physical infrastructure.
“For example, the Genome Centre in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
can become the National Genome Centre, with some financial aid to take it one
step further.
“We have to save time and start immediately. The world won’t wait for
us.”
Dr Jamaludin said scientists would be offered incentives to conduct
research, with emphasis on biotechnology development in the agricultural,
industrial and healthcare sectors.
“Biotechnology can add value to the industrial and agricultural sectors.
Using biotech-nology, we can increase crop yield, for example.
”At the same time, we can modernise agriculture by finding more ways to
develop products from raw materials,” said Dr Jamaludin, who visited The
Star office here yesterday.
The minister said the Malaysian workforce would have to be “re-skilled to
tune in with biotechnology.”
On what he foresees as his ministry’s biggest challenge, Dr Jamaludin said:
“Market pick-up. For every ringgit you spend on developing a new product, you
need to spend even more to market it.”
Dr Jamaludin will lead a Malaysian delegation to the Bio 2005 Annual
International Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
on June 19-22.
“We have to put ourselves out there to bring them to Malaysia,
and show them we are emphasising on biotechnology.”
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