From Vision to Attrition: The Politics of Implementing Biotechnology Industrial Policy in Malaysia

This paper examines the politics of implementing biotechnology industrial policy in Malaysia, focusing on the National Biotechnology Policy (2005) and the institutional ecosystem built around it, including the Malaysian Bioeconomy Corporation. Malaysia’s strategy formed part of a wider global and Global South push to promote biotechnology and bioeconomy sectors through start-up support, FDI promotion, industrial parks, and targeted financial incentives. Drawing on 34 expert interviews conducted in 2022 and 2025, the paper traces the trajectory of flagship initiatives—such as the BioNexus programme, the Bioeconomy Transformation Programme, and the Bio-XCell industrial park—and evaluates their mixed results. Although the first decade generated significant institutional activity, long-term outcomes remained modest: the sector stayed small, major foreign investments did not materialise, and many supported firms became inactive. The paper argues that this limited transformation was driven less by technical shortcomings than by political dynamics. Funding and support declined sharply after the mid-2010s due to leadership changes and an unravelling political settlement, shifting policy priorities, fiscal pressures following oil price drops and the 1MDB crisis, and frustration that investments had not yielded expected returns. Overambitious planning, inter-agency competition, and weak venture capital further constrained implementation. The Malaysian case underscores that industrial policy in frontier technologies depends not only on design but on sustained political commitment, coordination, and credible long-term state signals.