{
  "id": 16262765,
  "title": "Why Budget 2027 must fix our misplaced innovation funding — Ahmad Ibrahim",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/why-budget-2027-must-fix-our-misplaced-innovation-funding-ahmad",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-24T02:13:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail-malaymail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/what-you-think/2026/10/24/why-budget-2027-must-fix-our-misplaced-innovation-funding-ahmad-ibrahim/240391"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The 2027 Malaysian budget must address the misaligned innovation funding structure, according to Ahmad Ibrahim. Malaysia currently spends only 1% of its GDP on research and development (R&D), with the government bearing the majority of this burden. This is significantly lower than neighbouring countries like South Korea, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, where the private sector funds the majority of business enterprise R&D. The government recognizes this issue, as outlined in the NSTIP 2021-2030 targets, which aim for a 30:70 public-private contribution ratio. However, private sector funding for R&D is lagging and even decreasing. Malaysia offers various tax incentives to encourage R&D spending, but these incentives do not effectively shift the risk calculus for firms. To improve the situation, Budget 2027 should target the demand side by making government procurement an innovation instrument, redesigning commercialization incentives around outcomes, confronting the talent gap through industry-researcher mobility programs, and consolidating the fiscal architecture of R&D support. These changes are necessary to shift the balance away from government funding and towards private sector investment in R&D.",
  "summary": "OCTOBER 24 — The 2027 budget’s strategic areas — AI, digital services, the energy transition — a...",
  "key_points": [
    "Malaysia spends 1% of GDP on R&D, majority funded by government.",
    "NSTIP 2021-2030 targets 30:70 public-private R&D contribution ratio.",
    "Budget 2027 should shift demand side by using government procurement as innovation tool."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Shifting the fiscal burden from the state to the private sector requires transforming government procurement and commercialization incentives to finally bridge the research and development funding gap.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}