KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) — The government is targeting at least five per cent of the research and development (R&D) conducted at universities for commercialisation, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Sunday.

In order to achieve that objective, there was a need for quality human capital to drive and sustain change, he said.

The ministry would play a role in strengthening the link between academia and industry to create awareness in the industry of the capability of universities in R&D, he told reporters after opening the International Public Seminar on Commercialising Research and Development Products and Services, here.

Asked to elaborate, he said universities would be required to set up a commercial area as a one-stop centre to enable industry to know the research done by the academia.

Khaled said an agenda of the National Higher Education Strategic Plan was to push forward the drive for a quality, industry-relevant and world-renowned research culture within the tertiary educational framework.

The aim was to come up with intellectual property and innovation which could move the country up the global value chain and create new jobs and opportunities, he said.

By 2020, Malaysia would have a ratio of 50 researchers, scientists and engineers per 10,000 workforce to drive the development and innovation of industries, he said.

Khaled said that through the MyBrain15 human capital development programme, the government aimed to produce 21,000 PhD holders by 2010. The ultimate objective of the programme is to produce 100,000 PhD holders by 2020.

Six local and international experts are scheduled to address the three-day seminar, attended by more than 300 people, to provide a deeper understanding of the commercialisation of R&D products and services of universities.

The seminar is organised by Universiti Malaysia Perlis.

– BERNAMA