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| News at Home | ||||||
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| AgBiotech & Medical | ||||||
| The Ninth Malaysia Plan will be seeing more productive uses of our nation’s lands as idle agro-based lands will be revived for use under a government programme slated to develop agricultural areas specially for food production. The idle lands covering an area of about 103,000 hectares, will be utilized accordingly under the watchful eyes of Syarikat Felcra Berhad and relevant agencies. |
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In
other news, a former agriculture assistant to the Kedah Agriculture
Department has now reverted to being “Soil Rejuvenator”
with his invention of a biotechnology product that may help rejuvenate
infertile soil back for crop cultivation. The “Biost Soil Treatment”
product uses soil-enriching microbes mixed with nutrient substances,
which would then be able to rejuvenate nutrient low soils. |
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In
a recent breakthrough in the medical field, Malaysian scientists have
been successful in isolating the influenza virus behind the outbreaks
in the country since 2004. The virus, a new strain of Flu B virus, can
prove fatal to young and old. It is known as B/Malaysia/2506/2004, and
may cause high fever, coughs, colds, and joint pains. Details of the
virus has been sent to the WHO. |
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| Industry | ||||||
Since
the announcement of the National Biotech Policy, Malaysia has been gaining
much ground on the international Biotechnology stage. Malaysia gained
prominent attention at the recently concluded 14th
Annual International Conference of the Biotechnology Industry
held in Chicago. The convention, which attracts most players in the
industry, saw the Malaysian delegation gaining greater visibility with
an increase in tie-in opportunities with foreign countries. |
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This sentiment is mirrored in the recent marketing strategies of Synamatix, a wholly Malaysian biotechnology firm that has been making waves abroad. The company plans to focus on their market presence and creating more tie-ups with industry players locally and abroad. In fact, Synamatix plans to concentrate on collaborations with local academic institutions for research this year. On the local side, Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd. anticipates its venture into the biotechnology industry via the biodiesel sector in a venture which may see it bringing in earnings of between RM500 million to RM600 million per year, further boosting Malaysia’s potential in the sector. |
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| Investment | ||||||
With
potential growth in the biotechnology sector on the way, Malaysia Debt
Ventures aim to play a significant role in the funding aspect of the
industry. In fact, the company has submitted a proposal to the Government
to allow better financing of biotechnology projects. As of March 23,
2006, the company has approved 111 applications for biotechnology projects
valued at RM1.77 billion. |
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In
other news, Mission Biofuels is to invest RM100 million in a biodiesel
plant located in Kuantan, Pahang. The biodiesel plant will have a capacity
of 100,000 tonnes a year and be operated by Mission Biotechnology Sdn.
Bhd. its wholly owned subsidiary. The project would be wholly equity-funded,
and not being financed through loans. |
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| Policy | ||||||
With
biotechnology on the rise in prominence, the BioNexus project is the
next logical step for the government. As does the MSC, which was launched
10 years ago, and is currently churning out up to RM7 billion per annum
in revenue, BioNexus, a hub for biotechnology companies is expected
to rake in US$1 trillion by 2015. Although there is much catching up
to do, the rising star of biotechnology has the potential of emulating,
if not surpassing, that of its ICT counterpart. |
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