Can Rais Hussin stamp his mark on Malaysia’s innovation ecosystem?
- received a sizable grant from the government to enhance MRANTI
- To utilize 4IR to enhance world’s food production, agency up food protection
The one thing that Dr. Rais Hussin is not is boring, regardless of whether you like him or not, and his turbulent two years as the non-executive chairman of Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation ( MDEC ) made sure that the ecosystem had one opinion or the other.
And that largely comes from his sincerity and natural desire to tell items as they are. When questioned in late 2020 why he was acting like an executive chairman and outstepping his authority at MDEC, he replied,” I am not here to be a cake breath chairman.” He may have denied, veered off, or simply sugarcoated the position, but Rais is not. Therefore the polarizing ideas he has.
And even when an MDEC administrative gives him breaks, it comes with a bite. ” He can bring money to the table as proven by how he convinced CIMB Bank to allocate US$ 2.12 million ( RM10 million ) in 2021 for an agritech focused , micro- financing programme”.
Such was the success of the program that in 2022 and 2023 the government allocated MDEC funding of RM10 million and US$ 4.25 million ( RM20 million ) to expand its agritech drive. The professional stated that the government had not provided MDEC financing for agritech prior to this. Rais put the program up so rapidly, which was due to her having only been discussed and discussed in the past without any real action.
]RM1 = US$ 0.212]
However, his meddling with the operation of MDEC was on the other area. ” He does not know how to operate a government agency and his interference was ridiculous”, said the executive, adding,” The reputation of the Discretionary Authority Limit is something we are also living”, referring to a vital principle Rais introduced, designed to minimize the financial level by which MDEC officials had make funding/grant choices. Ras argued that some MDEC officials had abused the previous system because it was flawed.
You Rais move a government agency?
But, amazingly, Rais now has been given the opportunity to show that he can move a government agency. And Rais recently held a presentation for the advertising to promote some updates and give a hint that” there are more exciting and beautiful things coming in the near future” after sitting silent for almost five months since his wonder appointment as CEO of MRANTI in October 2023.
Bullish words for a business executive who has pledged to” we will not spend on anything that has no effect on society and the nation.” And to underscore this promise, he and then-Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had a conversation while on his first official public meeting as chairman of MDEC in late 2020, when he was present for a major launch the organization had at a low-cost public housing area.
A resident took Rais to a run-down PC room with 40 desktop units, and he claims to have been turned aside by the resident. Only 20 of them were operational, and 15 of them, even here, had flickering screens.
How wonderful if we could get 40 new PCs instead of this event, the elderly resident thought to herself. Rais, who has since used the unforgettable encounter to guide him in how to create and deliver real, meaningful, and impactful programs for the country and its citizens while reducing showy spending, said:” His words hit me hard.” That MDEC program cost RM800, 000.
One important take away from the briefing is that Rais immediately demonstrates his ability to attract funding, which is in part due to the close working relationships he has with senior members of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition.
In essence, Rais argued to the Ministry of Finance and Economy Ministry where the 28-year-old park stood in relation to its appeal as a hub for innovation in its current aging state as opposed to the goals the government had for it. He also argued that proper investments were required to bolster MRANTI’s reputation as a world-class innovation hub. So what happened?  ,
The government has acknowledged that comprehensive upgrades are necessary and has given the park’s 686 acre infrastructure a significant amount of funding, Rais said, who declined to disclose the amount that will be invested over a three-year period.
Even though there was a lot of flux at MDEC, Rais has adopted a supportive mindset at MRANTI in terms of his leadership team. He has repeatedly said,” I have an amazing team,” noting that the only new senior hire has been a” transformationist” in the procurement field and that there may be two more senior positions to be filled.
He said,” Those who know me, realize that I take governance very seriously,” in a nod to his prior experiences at MDEC. And in a different agency, I had taken a very robust approach. But not here. We have a fantastic team that is adaptable to change.
innovation to address nation and citizen pain points
Moving forward, Rais stated that the Board’s intention is to “accelerate demand driven R&, D using 4IR to address national challenges” rather than the name MRANTI ( Technology Innovation Park Malaysia ).
The use of 4IR is no coincidence as Rais has co- authored a book in 2019 ‘ 4IR – Reinventing A Nation”. He also mentioned that Mosti has appointed MRANTI as an organization that is “tasked with facilitating addressing food security using 4IR,” and that we are working very hard in this area because Malaysia’s food bill in 2023 was around RM72 billion, excluding dried and processed food.
No specific plans have been made by MRANTI in this regard, with Rais looking to Qatar for inspiration. The tiny country benefited greatly from relying on 4IR technologies to undergo a dramatic transformation, going from importing most of its food needs to becoming an exporter. To learn from the desert nation, two teams will be sent to Qatar.
Rais insists that the MRANTI approach does n’t just involve copying others. Innovation must address the pain points of the nation, “he said while highlighting that around 97 % of people want five things in their lives – affordable cost of living, affordable and quality healthcare/education/housing and dignified jobs.
As we continue to position Malaysia as a leader in technology production and the nucleus of innovation, these are the pain points we need to address.
Without a doubt, these are ambitious objectives for Rais and MRANTI, taking into account the reality that the agency cannot significantly slow the pace of innovation in the nation by itself, with its business model of collaborating startups, the private sector, and academia in their innovative endeavors while enticing regional and international corporations to set up their innovation centers at MRANTI, utilizing its 686 acre landbank to generate revenue.
On 5G, MRANTI provides a drone and an area for autonomous driving testing. However, despite the facilities being provided, use of the two test zones entirely depends on ecosystem players, including businesspeople, corporations, and academics, for their testing. MRANTI has no funding or grants to distribute, nor does it have any valuable IP or researchers to share with ecosystem partners.
According to Rais, there is a reality to be had if he is to predict “exciting and sexy” developments to come. He states that the goal is for 2024’s revenue to increase 29 % while maintaining positive EBITDA, compared to 2023’s revenue of RM126.2 million and RM17.5 million.
Chinese investments are being made
Some of the exciting developments to come stem from a Dec 2023 trip to China, visiting some leading companies there, including Geely, pitching MRANTI to them. Rais anticipates that two universities will open campus branches, one AI company to launch an innovation center, and the other to establish operations with another company opening an innovation center at MRANTI.
An AI capacity development program will be launched by a global tech company, reportedly Nvidia, for free to increase their job prospects with another 1, 000 spots for startups, which is a more immediate development that he is excited about, and it’s because it cost him nothing to put together.
This project also serves as an example of Rais ‘ ability to maneuver with discernibility and deftly navigate layers. The tech company had tried for years to offer the government the project to improve AI skills. They agreed to support the project on the spot and their chairperson, Prof. Dr. Rofina Yasmin Othman, at the meeting that Ras organized. Rass then instructed the executive to allow him to spend the night at his leisure, and that evening he and Zambry Abdul Kadir, the minister of higher education, met to discuss the initiative with him.
The launch will see both Zambry and Chang Lee Kang, the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation in attendance. Rais ‘ agency sits under Chang’s portfolio”. I am Mr. Zero Capex and “quipped Rais of the project that will be launched end of April.”
The greatest challenge
Despite a few early victories, Rais is unsure of how significant a challenge lies ahead for the nation in terms of innovation advancement. He now understands the enormous challenge that lies ahead thanks to his trip to China and particularly the innovation park Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park ) in Beijing.
While serving as one of the many innovation parks in the greater Beijing area, the park has hosted an astounding 108 unicorns, each with a number of leading local and international businesses as tenants. ” Every visit to the park left me feeling depressed back at the hotel,” Rais said,” so vividly recalled a time when Malaysia was ahead of China ( before it opened its borders and joined the WTO in 2001 ). But now we are 30 to 40 years behind them”.
Where are we failing to act morally? What can we do that they cannot do? In his head were these questions lingering. However, this was the one constant response Rais would receive from his Chinese hosts. Their success was attributed to the top-down approach the nation took to innovation. It is incorporated into all the verticals they want to become leaders in, Rais said.
It will be Rais ‘ greatest challenge, and it will result in many sleepless nights for him, to try to replicate this in the Malaysian context and the capabilities of its entrepreneurs, businesses, and researchers.
