Nurturing innovation a must for Malaysia: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said the government will continue to stress on nurturing creativity and innovation among Malaysians in an effort to generate new economic avenues and bring the country to greater heights.
He underlined that young innovators were at the forefront of carrying out the country's vision into the next generation in line with the nation's National Transformation 2050 (TN50) programme that would set the course for the next three decades.
"It's clear that we have talented young entrepreneurs in abundance and we must make sure that we nurture them so that they can succeed," he said when opening the Global Entrepreneurship Community (GECommunity) Summit 2017 with the aim of catalysing the growth and development of the global entrepreneurship movement here today.
Najib said here in Malaysia, the government had been pursuing innovation in the public sector with its National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) that had transformed the way government worked, and had made a significant contribution to national development.
Today's event also saw the inaugural Global Blue Ocean Shift Awards being handed out by Najib to recipients including Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein Onn and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa for their work in implementing the ''blue ocean strategy''.
The awards were to recognise the work by individuals who are creating their own ''blue oceans'', opening up new frontiers of opportunity and growth and creating a new pipeline for economic expansion.
They also recognised the outstanding achievements made across the public, private and social sectors.
In his address, Najib said since its introduction in 2009, the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) had been a key pillar in national transformation as the government followed what was known as the Blue Ocean Shift process to tackle a wide range of economic and social issues, and rapidly deliver high impact initiatives for the benefit of the people and at low cost to the government.
He said more than 90 government ministries and agencies were collaborating to break down bureaucratic silos and develop creative and innovative initiatives to transform the nation.
To date, over 115 high impact initiatives have been created under NBOS such as the Urban Transformation Centres, 1Malaysia for Youth (iM4U), MaGIC or Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), and many others.
The prime minister underlined that NBOS would continue to play a key role, especially in executing the National Transformation 2050 agenda.
"We need to keep that momentum of innovation because I believe that we're at the tipping point of a new phase of the digital revolution," he said.
Several ministries have joined hands in organising the summit such as the Finance Ministry, Higher Education Ministry, and Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry. — Bernama