Strategic Input for Robust STI Ecosystems

Malaysia is in an advantageous position to participate in the global rare earth industry value chain as it has all the building blocks for a robust ecosystem. As the country’s high technology industry continues to develop and expand, a secure supply of Rare Earth (RE) raw material is critical. As such, the development of the upstream and downstream of rare earth industries will be an advantage to Malaysia.

ASM’s Precision Medicine Initiative for Malaysia was initiated in September 2017. This Task Force is chaired by Professor Datuk Dr A Rahman A Jamal FASc and has nine active members. This initiative aims to study the feasibility of mainstreaming precision medicine to complement the current clinical practice.

When the ASM Task Force on Water Demand Management conducted a workshop in Sarawak for the Study on Water Demand Management for Malaysia back in 2014, the Sarawak State Government requested for an exclusive report from ASM. Due to declining unregulated flow and decreasing water quality, there is an urgent need for the shift from the currently practised supply-driven management approach to a more sustainable demand management approach.

One might think of ‘halal’ as just being a set of Islamic rules about food and drink, but the global halal industry is an ecosystem by itself which incorporates everything from medicines, cosmetics, fashion and many other industries.

Green growth is gaining traction in the quest for a more sustainable society. Similar to countries across the globe, Malaysia is committed to a low-carbon energy future. This prompted ASM to establish a Special Interest Group on Hydrogen Economy, helmed by Professor Dato’ Ir Dr Wan Ramli Wan Daud FASc. This SIG has developed a holistic, evidence-based position paper outlining the opportunities and challenges for Malaysia to venture into hydrogen economy.

Chaired by YM Academician Tengku Datuk Dr Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen FASc, the ASM Special Interest Group on Machine Learning (SIGML) was tasked to formulate a position paper on the important role that AI will play in Malaysia’s development and proposed key recommendations, based on Malaysia’s economic strengths and data gaps, that will take the nation on a fast trajectory of adoption and deployment.

This journey started with ASM being mandated to review the National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (NPSTI) 2013-2020 and formulate the new NPSTI 2021-2030 by MOSTI (then known as Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change). This was in line with the Government’s aspiration to ensure Malaysia becomes a developed country through the mainstreaming of STI. Alongside this, ASM was also tasked to develop the Malaysia Science, Technology & Innovation Master Plan (STIMP) 2020-2030. This was deemed necessary for national-level coordination and effective implementation of all policies related to STI towards leveraging STI opportunities for socio-economic impact.

Transboundary pollution is pollution that originates from one country but crosses the border, causing damage to the environment of another country. It has detrimental impact on the health and economy of the ASEAN countries over the past decades. Particularly, the persistent haze episodes imply that the diplomatic effort is reaching stagnancy. This urged the Malaysian Government to consider a legal approach to push for the progress of mitigating the transboundary pollution. Extraterritorial application of an act is inevitable and is nothing short of challenging.

The Review of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (EQA1974) was commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Water (previously Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change) and commenced in November 2019.