by Jonathan Edward, Wang Jiawei
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's technological and industrial strengths, coupled with its capacity to support skills development and industrial scaling, are important to bilateral cooperation with Malaysia in resource processing and high-value manufacturing, according to a Malaysian expert.
Syed Muhammad Ibad, a geoscientist and environmental geologist at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, told Xinhua in a recent interview that Malaysia is well-placed to expand its resource processing industries. Its rich natural resources lay a solid foundation for expanding processing activities and moving further up industrial value chains.
"China's advantage rests on decades of research and development, dedicated research institutes, and universities that feed trained engineers directly into the industry, continuously improving efficiency and cost competitiveness," he said.
Opportunities for deeper Malaysia-China cooperation lie in their complementary strengths, particularly in resource processing, technology development, industrial upgrading and human capital development, Syed Muhammad noted.
Structured collaboration between Chinese research institutes and Malaysian universities, as well as joint ventures involving Chinese and Malaysian companies, could help combine technological expertise with Malaysia's resource and industrial advantages and accelerate the development of its processing sector, he added.
He also identified human capital development as another significant area for cooperation, pointing to China's mature ecosystem of specialized universities and research institutes that provides skilled graduates for related industries. ■
