Mechanism and Government Initiatives Promoting Innovation and Commercialization of University Invention

This paper reviews the mechanisms and the Malaysian government initiatives to support commercialization and technology transfer from universities. To be more precise, this study attempts to demarcate the role of the Malaysian government by examining the initiatives for promoting commercialization of university research. Commercialization is still new in the Malaysian environment and undoubtedly requires a lot of support from the government to transform the Malaysian universities as centres for generating revenue. Commercialization has a positive impact on economic development and facilitates the exchange of knowledge with industries as well as the entrepreneurs. The main objective of this paper is to study whether the Malaysian government is aware of and supports this process by diverting resources from research to commercialization. The policy implications and suggestions for further research are outlined in the conclusion to this paper.