Bioscience Entrepreneurship

Business enterprises based on the use of biological knowledge are contributing to economic development as shown by the experience of the United States where biosciences contributed to a third of its gross domestic  product.. Developing countries should exploit this development, says Dr. Paul Teng of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He  spoke on "Bioscience entrepreneurship: Creating value and wealth from biology" in a public seminar on commercialization of biotechnology at the University Pertanian Malaysia in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Potential bioscience enterprises in Asia include hybrid plant and seed varieties, tissue culture, biofermentation, biofertilizers and biopesticides, biofuels, bioremediation, biodetection, and biotechnology crops. Teng notes that the opportunities for bioscience entrepreneurship are growing and Malaysia can take an active role  through capacity development, intellectual property product development, incubator support, financing, and services.

In the same seminar, Mr. Izhar Hifnei Ismail of the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation discussed "Incentives for biotechnology companies in Malaysia". Aware of "biotech for wealth creation" the Malaysian government  has set up the BioNexus status which is a designation awarded to qualifying biotechnology companies, making them eligible for privileges. These privileges include fiscal incentives such as income tax excemption, tax exemption on dividends, and exemption of import duty and sales.

More information on the seminar can be obtained by emailing Mahalechumy Arujanan of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Center at maha@bic.my.