WITH ongoing tensions within the Middle East and uncertainty world wide, it’s reassuring to see Malaysia standing sturdy. The nation is ranked first amongst Southeast Asia’s rising markets and twenty third globally within the Milken Institute’s Global Opportunity Index 2026.
What does this imply for the event of science, know-how and innovation in Malaysia? Growing investor confidence in Malaysia’s stability and progress potential makes it simpler for innovators, researchers, and startups to safe funding, construct partnerships, and produce their concepts to market.
For the International Invention, Innovation, Technology Competition and Exhibition (ITEX) 2026, it additionally helps appeal to extra worldwide members, giving native innovators better publicity and extra alternatives to collaborate and scale their options.
As ITEX marks its thirty seventh version this yr, Malaysia’s improved world standing supplies a strong platform for science, know-how, and innovation to develop and attain a wider viewers.
Great innovation occurs collectively
More than simply an exhibition, ITEX showcases hundreds of innovations every year and brings collectively members from completely different international locations. Many use the platform to refine their concepts, take a look at market curiosity and join with potential companions, traders and trade specialists. This assist is essential as a result of most innovations usually are not prepared for business use on the early stage. With the proper steering and connections, early concepts may be developed into sensible merchandise that deal with actual wants.
Innovation additionally doesn’t occur in isolation. Successful concepts are normally formed by dialogue, suggestions and collaboration between completely different teams. This is one among ITEX’s key strengths because it creates an area the place inventors, researchers, universities and trade gamers can meet and work collectively to maneuver concepts ahead.
At the identical time, ITEX performs an essential position in encouraging curiosity in science, know-how, engineering and arithmetic (STEM), particularly amongst youthful generations. By exposing college students and younger innovators to actual innovations and inventive problem-solving, it helps spark curiosity and conjures up them to discover future careers in science and know-how.
This sense of inspiration is very evident on the World Young Inventors Exhibition (WYIE), held as a part of ITEX Malaysia’s annual occasion. It is encouraging to see younger inventors, from main college pupils to school college students, proudly representing their international locations and colleges as they share concepts and participate in a wholesome, supportive competitors.
What higher approach to be taught than by doing, and what higher platform than WYIE at ITEX, the place younger minds can develop by actual expertise, change concepts, and be taught from each other in a constructive manner.
Malaysia’s progress in science and innovation
Malaysia has made regular progress in science and innovation through the years. The nation stays among the many higher performing nations in its revenue group, rating second amongst higher middle-income economies in innovation capability. It can be ranked thirty third out of 133 international locations within the Global Innovation Index 2024, its strongest efficiency since 2016, bettering from thirty sixth place in earlier years, based on the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti).
At the identical time, there may be nonetheless room for enchancment. While Malaysia is transferring in the proper route, continued efforts are wanted to additional strengthen the innovation ecosystem so it might probably compete extra successfully with superior economies. This contains bettering the standard of analysis, encouraging stronger trade participation, and making certain extra concepts transfer past the analysis stage into actual world utility.
In phrases of analysis and growth (R&D), Malaysia recorded about RM12.8 billion in R&D spending in 2022, as proven within the Economic Census 2023. This displays regular funding in science and know-how throughout completely different sectors. The authorities has additionally set clear targets to extend this spending additional, aiming for two.5% of GDP by 2025 and three.5% by 2030 underneath the nationwide science and innovation coverage. These objectives spotlight a long-term dedication to constructing a stronger innovation base.
Innovation can be starting to ship extra real-world outcomes. Between 2016 and 2023, greater than 550 applied sciences and merchandise have been commercialised, producing over RM729 million in income, based on the Malaysia Commercialisation Year initiative. This reveals that analysis is more and more being translated into sensible options that profit each trade and society, though additional effort continues to be wanted to scale up and increase these outcomes.
Platforms akin to ITEX play an essential position in supporting this progress by connecting inventors, researchers, and trade gamers to strengthen the innovation pipeline. ITEX 2026 can be held at KLCC from 18 to 19 May, persevering with its position as an essential assembly level for concepts, collaboration, and commercialisation inside Malaysia’s innovation panorama.
Chong Yen Mee is a member of the UNFCCC Roster of Experts and Tan Sri Em Prof Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong is the president of Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS) and senior fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia