The government is fully committed to the development of intellectual property (IP) financing and its use as collateral by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to expand businesses.
Ministry of Finance Deputy Secretary-General (Policy) Datuk Mat Noor Nawi said for a start, the government has initiated a RM200 million IP financing scheme, to be offered through Malaysian Debt Ventures Bhd.
He added that the government is also providing a two per cent interest rate subsidy and a 50 per cent guarantee through Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd.
“This is one way for the government to assist SMEs in increasing opportunities to bring them to the next commercialisation level,” he explained.
Mat Noor said moving in tandem with the global landscape, the government is also committed to developing IP rights into a source of new wealth creation, and raise the business value chain to a higher level.
In this regard, the government has mandated Intellectual Property Corp of Malaysia (MyIPO) to drive the IP valuation initiatives, which currently focus on four deliverables, namely, training of local IP valuers, the valuation of IP rights for suitable local SMEs, developing a national IP valuation model and creating an IP market platform for IP rights to be transacted.
MyIPO director-general Datuk Azizan Mohamad Sidin said IP rights have and always will be important in the global economy, and to not be left behind, Malaysia must rise to the challenge of making the nation a competitive force in emerging IP markets.
He said as the custodian of IP rights in Malaysia, MyIPO has been creating the needed awareness in IP protection and capacity building within the general public as well as among stakeholders.
Azizan Mohamad said apart from developing the IP valuation model and IP marketplace, MyIPO has also taken the proactive approach of reviewing existing IP legislation to cater to the demands of the evolving IP economy, whilst ensuring its harmonisation with international treaties.