Malaysia Has To Move Faster To Translate Innovation Into Enterprise Adoption - Chang
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has to move fast to translate innovation into enterprise adoption, productivity gains and national competitiveness due to a growing pool of technology startups and rising digital readiness.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said corporate innovation is critical because corporations are the largest engines of scale, shaping supply chains, setting industry standards and determining how quickly new technologies reach the market.
"When corporates move slowly, innovation stalls. When they lead, entire ecosystems accelerate," he said in his keynote address at The BIG Programme: Corporate Innovation Forum organised by Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd here today.
Chang said MOSTI has been deliberate in reshaping how corporations engage with innovation, not as observers, but as active partners in technology adoption.
He added that the ministry also recognises that many traditional procurement models, risk frameworks and onboarding timelines have been designed for stability rather than speed, and have become bottlenecks in a fast-moving technology landscape.
"What we are seeing today shows that these barriers can be broken. By rethinking corporate engagement with startups and emerging technologies, market access can be accelerated, and innovation can be both impactful and manageable (when it comes to) risk," he added.
Chang said the confidence to experiment, adopt, and scale technology is increasingly driving corporate engagement with startups, supported by more structured facilitation and clearer risk-sharing frameworks that allow faster decision-making and movement beyond pilot projects.
He added that earlier engagement between corporates and startups has helped address a long-standing gap between innovation readiness and procurement readiness, particularly when technology leaders and corporate decision-makers discuss deployment models, intellectual property and commercial pathways.
Chang said the impact is already visible, with corporates stepping forward as first movers instead of waiting for technologies to mature overseas, committing capital, resources and leadership attention locally.
"For the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, this signals a deeper shift, where innovation is increasingly seen not as a cost centre, but as a strategic investment in resilience, competitiveness and long-term growth. This is exactly what Malaysia needs to stay relevant in a technology-driven global economy," he added.
-- BERNAMA
