YBhg Dato’ Noharuddin Nordin
Chief Executive Officer at MIDA

YBhg Dato’ Redza Rafiq
Chief Executive of NCIA

YBhg Professor Dato’ Dr Omar Osman
Vice Chancellor of USM

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,

Salam Sejahtera,

Salam 1Malaysia and good morning to all of you here today.

1. It is a privilege for me to be with you today to officiate the launching of the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science & Technology Center or CREST. The Centre’s vision is to be the premier centre for Research & Development and the platform for collaborative efforts of universities, government agencies and industry players to actively participate and contribute to the country’s R&D effort.
2. This interface between industry, academia and government agencies, i.e NCIA, Khazanah and USM as well as industry players, is both necessary and beneficial. Over the years, the partnership between academia, industry and Government has been mutually beneficial, with industry obtaining access to key technologies and academics seeing their basic discoveries applied to practice.

Ladies and gentlemen,

3. The rapidly growing and increasingly complex research and innovation processes require high-tech companies to optimize their technology transfer processes. It is clearly not sufficient to solely rely on internal R&D. Increasingly companies need strategic cooperation with external research centers of excellence to compete in the global innovation market.
4. It is this strategic cooperation which will be the central focus of CREST in driving the R&D agenda. The Federal Government is providing RM 100 million over a period of 10 years for R&D activities undertaken by CREST and industries.
5. Such collaboration has increasingly become an important feature for the electrical and electronics(E&E) industry. Over the last three decades, the E&E industry has been a key driver and leading contributor to Malaysia’s industrial development and contributes significantly to GDP growth, export earnings, investment and employment. E&E is the single largest contributor of the manufacturing sector, and more than 40 percent of total exports as well as employs more than 5 percent of the total workforce.
6. Over the years, efforts have been taken to add premium to the E&E industry. In particular, the industry has developed significant capabilities and skills for manufacturing a wide range of electronic products as well as intensifying research and development efforts. These efforts have enabled the industry to move-up the value chain to produce higher value-added products.
7. In the Northern Corridor, particularly in Penang, we have several prominent companies in the E&E sector – namely Agilent, Aitera, AMD, Avago, Intel, Motorola, National Instruments, and OSRAM. These companies are distinguished by rapid technological advances and their rapid growth. Going forward, they will continue to grow and contribute significantly to the nation’s industrial progress and transformation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

8. As Malaysia drives towards becoming a high income economy, based on innovation and R&D, we need to increasingly focus on related talent development. Towards this end, a FasTrack programme, will be jointly developed by Talent Corporation, PSDC and industries. This is a 12-month apprenticeship programme with the objective of accelerating the development of R&D talent pool for the E&E sector. I understand that 98 apprentices will be graduating today, 69 percent of which have already been offered employment by the host companies.
9. This program also encourages students and those working to take Masters and PhDs courses, with the view to developing a talent pool of scientists and engineers to undertake research. The greater number of Masters and PhD holders will spur higher number of research projects, which companies could also co-host. I understand ten initial R&D projectrs are being undertaken, with collaboration between academia and industry.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

10. The E&E technological advancements are moving at a rapid pace. Moving forward, the E&E industry in Malaysia needs to keep abreast with such developments to stay competitive. To be competitive, we need to focus on the key sectors where Malaysia has comparative advantage.
11. In concluding, I would like to take this opportunity to thank NCIA, Khazanah Koridor Utara, and MIDA for taking the lead in the establishment of CREST. We would also like to extend our appreciation to USM for providing the academic leadership and continued support.
12. I would also like to record oour appreciation to industry players, specifically the nine Founder Members, for providing the leadership and direction to the Centre. The success of CREST rests very much on your commitment to involve your companies, and your resources to drive your business goals through this organization.
13. On that note, I have great pleasure to officially launch the CREST Center. Thank you.

Economic Planning Unit
Prime Minister’s Department
PutraJaya
9 June 2012