News at Home  
Environment & Food

Under an initiative by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia is slated to spearhead a project aimed at maintaining a flora and fauna database of our country’s natural resources. The project will allow Malaysia to have a better assessment our country’s diverse heritage, as well as allowing better ways of saving them. One example would be the use of biotechnology to save endangered plants which has always been a core R&D initiative of FRIM.

  
   
Malaysia is set to penetrate the British halal food market in a great manner over the next 5 years, as Tesco made their commitment to a RM1 billion deal which would see the involvement of 50 Tesco stores in Muslim majority areas in London. The prospective entry would see Malaysia beginning to tap into their potential and launch Malaysian halal food into the global market.
Industry & Investment
Plans to build a biomass steam plant is underway, as stream boiler manufacturer Enco Danstoker (M) Sdn Bhd provides their backing to the RM22 million project aimed at reducing dependency on fossil fuel for power and maintaining a cleaner environment as a result. The plant, in Bentong, will be expected to be ready by mid-2007 and would use empty fruit bunches, mesocarp fiber, wood waste and old furniture for burning purposes.

On the other hand, it has been surmised that Malaysia would be earning RM 700 million in revenue upon the construction of 22 biodiesel plants based on current crude palm oil prices. With global demands for biodiesel to reach 10.5 million in two years, Malaysia is aiming at capturing 10% of that. In fact, the strong potential of Malaysian biodiesel is further supported by the possible acquisition of a biodiesel plant here by UK renewable fuels company, Biofutures International Plc., in a reverse takeover bid.

               
Policy
The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation Sdn Bhd has announced plans to increase their amount for grants for technology companies under the initiative of the 9th Malaysia plan. The Commercialisation of R&D Fund would now be offering a maximum grant of RM 4 million compared to RM 2 million under the 7th and 8th Malaysia Plan. MTDC is tasked in establishing the Malaysia Life Sciences Capital Fund to boost the participation of companies and R&D houses to support the country’s biotechnology initiative.
 
This is further augmented by the cooperation between Japan and Malaysia in biotechnology as both countries strive to maintain their edge in the ever-expanding global market. Among the major areas of focus would be biofuel, and Malaysia is keen to learn from Japan the many ways the economic superpower is preparing to diversify its energy source.
               
In other news, the Ministry of Science and Technology is planning to collaborate with the research management units of many higher learning institutes in a measure to identify potential biotechnological research findings for commercialization. The R&D findings that may fulfill market needs and value would be ensured with research grants focused on its development, commercialization and entrepreneurship.