ABSTRACT
Malaysia grew rapidly in the 1 990s, with its real GDP growing at an annual rate of 8 per cent or higher. However, as its economy has grown, labour costs have increased. Malaysia needs to move to a new stage of industrialisation, producing higher value-added products. The Malaysian government has determined that industrial technology development is key to entering this new stage of industrialisation. The government has formulated an ambitious Action Plan for Industrial Technology Development (APITD), to complement the Industrial Master Plan (IMP). While parts of these plans have already been implemented effectively, Malaysia needs to do many more things to develop industrial technology because industrial technology development is relatively limited in the country, as seen in the low level of R&D expenditure (see Table 8.1).
