In November 2021, as part of its aspiration to establish a national ecosystem where start-ups can grow and flourish, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) launched the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap 2021-2030 (SUPER).
The roadmap was developed with various goals in mind. It aims to propel Malaysia to be ranked a top 20 global start-up ecosystem by 2030 by increasing the pool of quality start-ups, accelerating scale-ups, and driving growth of local and international unicorns.
From a much broader perspective, the implementation of SUPER is expected to increase the national gross domestic product, create high-value jobs, and boost high-impact investments in technology.
Through SUPER, the ministry recognises the capability that start-ups have in enhancing the country’s social well-being and economy through their “innovative solutions and disruptive business models”.
“MOSTI is opening more doors and expanding networks for the country’s dynamic and rapid economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“SUPER acts as the primary goal for all other national policies and guidelines related to start-ups,” said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Adham bin Baba during the launch of the roadmap.
Why SUPER Matters?
SUPER is aligned with key national policies such as the National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation 2021-2030, National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030, National Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Policy and Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint.
Taking account of feedback from over 300 start-up ecosystem stakeholders throughout its development, the 10-year roadmap outlines 10 quick win interventions and six critical interventions across five major challenges that come to define its key economic drivers – funding, talent, innovation, market environment, and policies and regulations.
Mandated as the “focal point” in executing SUPER is Cradle, an agency under MOSTI that will manage the development of Malaysia’s start-up ecosystem from initial to growth phases to improve the global competitiveness of local start-ups.
“SUPER was created precisely to make sure that the implementation of our programmes and plans (relating to the start-up ecosystem) works.
“Malaysia has a plan to become an entrepreneurial nation by 2030. There are policies and interventions in place. But if we don’t take this seriously, if we don’t work together, these plans will remain plans.
“We need to collaborate, and we need to make sure that we connect the dots together (through SUPER),” said Vice President of Strategic Planning at Cradle Mr Harmender Singh during his presentation on SUPER at the MYStartup Roadshow in Kuching on 23 June 2022.
The head of SUPER Project Management Office noted that many factors need to be considered in ensuring the success of the roadmap, especially to support the start-up community in Malaysia who have been searching for the right platform to expand their business and work with each other.
Such support, he explained, should be derived from the shift of mindset towards entrepreneurship, and willingness from the government, the private sector, education institutions and accelerators to collaborate with the community to guarantee the effectiveness of the start-up ecosystem.
That sense of collaboration is essential in generating the number of quality start-ups in Malaysia. Under SUPER, up to 5,000 start-ups are to be established, with at least five becoming unicorns by 2025.
“Once you have the numbers coming in, you will start to see a trend of unicorns starting to develop. Because it’s a numbers game – the more numbers there are, the higher the quality there is, the higher chances of there being good quality unicorns being developed,” Mr Singh said.
These unicorns, in turn, could consequently contribute to the country’s socio-economic growth, whether through greater start-up investments from the private sector, more job opportunities for youth or increased value in the national start-up economy – all in line with the aforementioned goals of SUPER.
Read more about the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap 2021-2030 at https://www.mosti.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/repository/penerbitan/2021/(SUPER)%20Malaysia%20Startup%20Ecosystem%20Roadmap%202021-2030.pdf
