Malaysia-CLMV Regional Cooperation in Technology Transfer and R&D Commercialisation

The Centre for Collaborative Innovation of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi will be organizing the above regional workshop on 14 to October 16, 2014 at the Hotel Bangi-Putrajaya, Bangi, Selangor.

INTRODUCTION

The Centre for Collaborative Innovation of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi will be organizing a regional workshop entitled "Malaysia-CLMV Regional Cooperation in Technology Transfer and R & D Commercialisation" on 14 to October 16, 2014 at the Hotel Bangi-Putrajaya, Bangi, Selangor.

A total of 31 research experts in various fields of science and technology, and industry players from Malaysia and the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) have been invited as guest speakers to share their expertise and best practices in R & D and technology transfer with a total of 80 participants from various public universities and public research institutions and as well as participants from industry in various fields.

The workshop is designed in such a way for the speakers to deliberate and discuss various issues related to bio-economy through a few sessions of forum and productive dialogues.

Through this workshop, academia and researchers in various fields of life sciences and biotechnology and as well as industry players and experts in the area of bio-economy from Malaysia and CLMV countries will have the opportunity to exchange their best practices and discuss various issues of their common area of interest.

Participants are expected to benefit from this workshop when they gain experience and lessons learned from the exchange of idea, thoughts and best practices in the bio-economy sector as their take-home outcome which will lead and open door to various potentials in research collaboration and R&D commercialization between Malaysian and CLMV countries.

HIGHLIGHT

The agriculture sector is the main activity in bio-economy which plays an important role as a major revenue earner for the economy of a developing countries like Malaysia.

In Malaysia, this sector is quite advanced with the use of modern technology to increase production and quality of agricultural products.

In Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), the agriculture becomes the main sector in which most of the population are engaged in agricultural activities.

In Myanmar for example, 70% of the population are working in agriculture sector. While in Malaysia, the sector provides 50% of total national employment.

This sector also indirectly becomes the main causal factor that catalyzes the emergence of supporting industries such as transportation and services.

The first phase of the project was carried out by a research team from UKM led by Professor Dato' Dr Rahmah Mohamed (the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, UKM and now as Vice-Chancellor of INTI International University).

Based on the situation analysis done on CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), this project have been carried out to develop strategies for conducting research collaboration between Malaysia and the CLMV countries in the area of bio-economy, especially in the field of plant tissue culture and animal vaccines and diagnostics.

Through several activities in this project, the actual situation of research in the agricultural sector in the CLMV countries identified through consultative meetings with representatives from companies in biotechnology.

The second phase is implemented through organizing workshops with the objective of aiming at promoting and commercializing the R & D products in the CLMV countries particularly in livestock vaccine research field and diagnostic and plant tissue culture.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, a workshop entitled "Malaysia-CLMV Regional Cooperation in Technology Transfer and R & D Commercialisation" has been organized by UKM on 14-16 October 2014 at the Hotel Bangi-Putrajaya to achieve the above objectives and with the following strategies:

• Identify the strengths and resources that can be offered to the CLMV countries;
• Collect and analyze information on selected partners in CLMV:
• Identify the emerging issues and challenges in CLMV countries in conducting research efforts, especially in agriculture;
• Create expert groups in research and R&D commercialization in the bio-economy sector;
• Identify partners from CLMV countries with potential to mediate in order to create a network of cooperation;
• Working together to obtain funding for collaborative research activities;
• Understand the cultural, environmental and social issues in the community and the CLMV countries.

CONTACT
Pusat Inovasi Kolaboratif
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor
Tel : +603 8921 4117 Fax : +603 8921 4114
Email : [email protected]
URL : www.ukm.my/clmvw2014