Business Innovation

National Branding & Packaging Innovation Conference and Exhibition: Innovating Malaysian Rural Economy

Addressed by Tan Sri Lim at the National Branding & Packaging Innovation Conference and Exhibition
11 August 2005

May I begin by thanking the Prime Minister for his presence, and for the unwavering support that he has shown us right from the start.

It is in response to the Prime Minister′s encouragement that his conference and exhibition on brand packaging has been organised, and to the Prime Minister I would like to dedicate this exhibition, and effort not seen in this country before.

It is our intention to hand over to the Prime Minister every brand design we have created for this exhibition as well as every new design we will be creating the whole of this year as a gesture of our own complete support for the Prime Minister′s vision of Malaysia being a major global brand that stands for quality and innovation.

Dato′ Seri, when you come here last year there were students from 52 countries on this campus. It has now increased to 65. Maybe this university has already become a global brand.

I do hope you have had time to walk through the exhibition. To make it happen, we, our students and our studios, created almost two thousand designs and close to two hundred brands. You may be surprised to know that every exhibit, including the giant packs has been created completely in-house.

In essence, this exhibition is an illustration of what design creativity in brand packaging is all about.

When it′s done well, design adds a sense of value and quality to the product. It creates identity and connectivity. It makes a statement that makes people want to buy. After all that is said and done, it′s design that makes a product a brand.

Those in marketing know that it′s design and packaging that make it possible to sell a product in a hundred countries all over the world all at once, and all the time.

And those in packaging know that we have world class packaging and printing capacities in this country. We must put in the effort to make Malaysia a packaging hub.

Last year, the world packaging market was placed at 1.5 trillion or 1,500 billion ringgit. We just need to capture 10% of that, and it would be as good as printing money.

In education, Malaysia has certainly become a global brand. Students come from more than a hundred countries to pursue their education here. Given that the global market for education was placed at 8.7 trillion or 8,700 billion ringgit last year, the potential for growth is just too big to ignore. We must work to be branded as a world class education hub.

Exactly 10 months ago, on 11 October last year, the Prime Minister who came to officially open this campus said, and I quote, "Nowadays, knowledge, innovation and creativity have become the new source of value in an economy and, therefore, the drivers of a country′s economic growth. Industries and companies that have been developed through creativity and innovation drive many of the world′s most successful economies today."

Going forward, as a nation, we must accept that we must be much more imaginative in the way we thing, and much more inventive in the way we create our products, and certainly much more creative in the way we build our brands.

We must succeed in creating more products the world wants to use, and more brands the world wants to buy.

To succeed in the long term, we must be equipped and prepared to compete with the best in the world, and that means we must become a country that stands alongside the very best in the world. This I do not see as an option.

To be sure, the branding of Malaysia must be truly outstanding. Only then will we stand out from the competition.

A key factor we must now address is the source where we build our competitiveness – and that is our human resource.

We need people who think outside the box, people who are prepared to challenge the norm and change the rules if the rules have become stumbling blocks.

To be able to build this crucial human capital, we must empower a system of education that is driven by the motivation to learn.

The learning environment therefore must be one that is inspiring and not stifling. We must promote creative thinking that leads to innovation, and we must not get stuck rigidly to compliance and outdated regulations.

As I see it, we must develop a culture in our education system that recognises and celebrates creativity, and promote a culture in our teaching system that promotes innovation.

Advanced nations consider creativity a priority propeller of national competitiveness.

To be an innovative nation is not such a difficult quest, as long as it is woven in as an integral part of the country′s culture and leadership vision.

This could have been what the Prime Minister had in mind when he added Innovation to the Ministry of Science and Technology, and created the National Innovation Council which is chaired by the Prime Minister himself.

Indeed, the Minister for Innovation, YB Dato′ Sri Dr Jamaludin Mohd Jarjis, has recently said, and I quote, “The private and public sectors must work together to eradicate misconceptions and create a positive image that would put Malaysia on the global innovation map.” Unquote.

To be sure, innovation must be industry-led and driven. This is because industry knows what the market wants, and knows how to drive the market to open up new avenues.

And, to be certain, the process must also involve the approval systems. Government agencies should work hand-in-hand with the private sector to enable it to operate at its competitive best.

Everyone involved must understand the competitive nature of today′s environment, and the speed at which the private sector must move in order to remain in competition.

Everyone should know that if our private sector loses a battle, it is the country that loses the battle.

At the National Economic Action Council Forum last year, the Prime Minister said, and I quote: "Agriculture, long underestimated, is set to become one of the most exciting sources of income and growth for Malaysia. Despite our decreasing industrialization and urbanisation, palm oil is still one of the biggest export earners.

This is not an indictment of our performance in industrialisation, but rather an affirmation of our competitive advantage in agriculture. When executed on a larger scale using modern technology, when reinvigorated by cutting–edge research and when popularized by global marketing efforts, the fruits of Malaysian soil could prove to be a top revenue earner time after time."

The Prime Minister was clearly on target when he focused on our competitive advantage in agriculture.

Whether it is raw commodities or food industry, Malaysia has long been a top producer and exporter of a long list of agriculture products.

Malaysian is one of the 12 mega biodiversity centres in the world, with abundant natural resources in flora, fauna and marine ecosystem. There are 15,000 known plant species in Malaysia, 4,000 of them are harvested for medicinal value.

Plant biotechnology is expected to surpass IT as the new engine of the global economy.

This you must know. Long before Viagra rose to make worldwide headlines, our own Tongkat Ali has been helping men rise to the occasion all this while.

Apart from being a powerful energy booster, Tongkat Ali is known to have a wide range of medicinal values which rival those of the Korean ginseng.

Potential for export of agro-based products is tremendous.

Global biotechnology market was placed at 800 billion ringgit in 2004.

Global export of agriculture products amounted to 3 trillion or 3000 billion ringgit in 2004. The value of food products was placed at 2.4 trillion or 2,400 billion ringgit.

Our share in agricultural products was 10 billion ringgit or 0.3 percent while our food products amounted to 7 billion ringgit in 2004. Just 4% of the global food market will give us 100 billion ringgit in revenue.

In terms of halal food, our share of the global market now stands at 1 percent or about 20 billion ringgit of the world total of 2 trillion or 2,000 billion ringgit. These figures however do not take into account the growing numbers of non-Muslims who eat halal food.

In the words of the Prime Minister, I quote "I believe that a lot more needs to be done in order for Malaysia to achieve its goal of becoming a global halal hub.

With the expertise that has been accumulated over the years, it is possible for Malaysia to take the lead in defining, coordinating and marketing the wide range of halal products that are available worldwide."

Malaysia has the potential as well as the credentials to be a major halal food production hub, and we already have all the ingredients to succeed.

Last year, we hosted the largest halal trade expo ever organised in the world.

Malaysia has the longest established and most widely- recognised halal certification in the world.

Malaysia trades with practically every country on earth.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, both by birth and adoption. It is estimated that by 2010, the Muslim population will double to exceed 3 billion.

If we were to achieve a 10 percent share of the global halal food market, it will bring in 200 billion ringgit in revenue. That is almost 50% of Malaysia′s current GDP.

That achievement alone will change forever the ethnic balance of economic ownership in this country.

However, to arrive at that achievement, we must first move our rural economy into a 21st century environment; and that means to effectively transform Malaysia′s rural industry into one that is modern and innovative.

The Prime Minister has often said that the agricultural sector must be reinvigorated to become a key driver of growth. Going by the figures, it′s hard not to agree with him.

The rural economy runs on knowledge and skills that are over hundreds of years old. Adding new knowledge and new skills of the modern era will, undoubtedly, transform the sector to perform more vibrantly.

What is needed is a comprehensive and cohesive enabling platform designed to bring about modernization throughout our rural economy; a platform that will empower rural-based enterprise with new knowledge and know-how, and enable them with new technology and new machinery.

This transformational process will bridge the innovation gap that now exists between the rural and the urban sectors, and it does not need a lot of time if well-designed enabling drivers are put in place to ensure end-to-end delivery; that means from product innovation to packaging innovation, and from promotion to distribution.

At the exhibition, I hope we have demonstrated how branding and packaging innovation can help transform rural based output into urban lifestyle products, and how high value perception can be added to low cost production.

The Malaysian Branding and Packaging Design Centre and this University are well-equipped and ready to lend a helping hand to the Government anytime we are asked. I think we are uniquely qualified to play a role in branding and design innovation.

May I take a minute here to thank YAB Menteri Besar Terengganu for our appointment as Terengganu′s R&D centre for branding and packaging of Terengganu products, capacity building for Terengganu′s SMEs and SMIs, brand profiling of the State of Terengganu and the promotion of Terengganu products nationwide and worldwide.

Dato′ Seri Idris, you have our assured support in your mission to make Terengganu a showcase state for excellence and innovation.

May I also take this opportunity to thank our many industry partners who have been working with us since our inception. Some of them have joined us today to formalize our collaborative partnerships. I thank all of them for the opportunity they have given us, our faculty and our students to work with them.

To conclude, I must thank the Prime Minister once again for the generosity of his encouragement and the heart-warming manner in which he has extended his support to us.

Thank you all for making time to be with us. You have made this a very special day for us. We thank you all for the support you have for us.