Intellectual property a new source of wealth, says PM

It could also make Malaysia competitive with advanced countries, he said.

"We need to be competitive in our bid to become a high-income nation that is not dependent on traditional and physical resources but is based on new sources of wealth such as intellectual property.

"To ensure the country's continued momentum in making intellectual property a new source of wealth, we have a responsibility to be more innovative and creative as well as to constantly create value added in order to come up with high-impact products and technologies for the local and global markets," he said at the National Intellectual Property Awards 2015 here today.

Najib said Malaysia, which has cultural ties with ASEAN countries as well as China and India, should increase its exports of arts and cultural goods through its own creative endeavours.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the effectiveness of initiatives to strengthen the national intellectual property ecosystem is shown by the six per cent average annual rise in applications.

This shows the potential of intelelctual property to contribute to national economic growth, he said, adding the government has agreed to consider providing an allocation to encourage intellectual property rights applications as part of efforts to raise the number of registrations.

Some 42 per cent of intellectual property rights applications are from within the country.

Najib also urged financial institutions to enhance their capacity in evaluating projects based on intellectual property rights, pointing out the lack of funds among many intellectual property rights owners.

"Efforts by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry together with interested parties will produce a more dynamic and sustainable ecosystem besides promoting an economic sector based on innovation and creativity in support of our bid for high-income nation status," he added.