KUCHING: The lacking of human capital in terms of creativity and innovation is the main reason why Malaysia’s Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking dropped in 2009-2010.
APPRECIATION: Abdul Karim (centre) presents a souvenir to Sagan as MPC Sarawak director Suhaimy Abdul Talib looks on.
International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Jacob Sagan, in stating this yesterday, said the 2009-2010 GII report showed Malaysia was ranked 28th in the overall ranking during the period compared with 25th position in 2008-2009.
“We are ranked 33th in terms of skills development and the capability of our human capital to progress further to meet the future demand. The other (low ranking) aspect is ICT and related infrastructure.
“The government is looking seriously into it (the drop in ranking). We are trying very hard to improve, for instance the penetration of internet services throughout the country even though it seems like Sarawak still has a long way to go,” he told a press conference here.
“Actually, if we compare apple with apple, in the Asean region, we are doing very well. We rank second after Singapore,” he added.
Singapore ranks seventh in the GII and Iceland is on top.
On Malaysia’s target, Sagan said: “The government has an overall plan. Our target is to try and improve the existing ranking. We actually don’t have a fixed target.”
The deputy minister earlier opened a seminar on creating excellent organisations through creativity and innovation.
The seminar, organised by Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), attracted about 150 participants.
MPC Board of Directors member Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg, in his speech, urged the private sector in the state to support creativity and innovation programmes as he felt that it would help to improve Malaysia;s position in GII.
“I hope the private sector will respond positively to the programmes lined up by MPC because comparatively Sarawak is still far behind in terms of creativity and innovation,” he added.
As GII and other similar surveys were largely based on private sector performance, it was imperative for the private sector to improve its creativity and innovation index, Abdul Karim added.