By: Retave’s Research Desk Editor
Less than three weeks before the budget, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang spoke at Universiti Malaya and named the part of the research pipeline he wanted more money for. Getting local research out of the lab and into the market, he said, is “an area that needs a lot of funding”.
On 9 October, Budget 2027 gave its answer in one sentence. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said RM6 billion would be allocated “to intensify research, development and commercialisation of innovations across ministries.” Behind that sentence sits a total in step with last year’s, a new fund built for university research, and detailed spending estimates that show where the money lands.
A fund of their own for university labs
For universities, the most direct line is a new one. The government and the Retirement Fund (Incorporated), known as KWAP, will set up a RM50 million UNIVC Fund “to showcase university research to market.” The speech adds that the government is prepared to take on early-stage risk to draw in more private capital.
That fits a shift university leaders are already making. Professor Dr Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, vice-chancellor of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), said on 11 October that Budget 2027 encourages universities to broaden their funding sources through endowments, alumni, industry partnerships, and research. He said it also moves the country beyond the old thinking “that universities should simply produce graduates, when they must instead develop talent.”
Other lines are aimed at the step after the lab run, ranging from seed money to scale-up capital. Cradle Fund receives RM41 million to carry out the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap, including grants for prototype development and commercialisation. The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation’s SemiconStart programme will offer follow-on equity to startups in integrated circuit (IC) design, advanced packaging and semiconductor materials.
Bigger sums follow for companies that grow. Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, and KWAP put RM450 million into startups through Jelawang Capital and Dana Perintis, and RM1.2 billion into supporting local semiconductor companies in moving into higher-value work. A further RM2.1 billion, from the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) fund, KWAP’s Dana Pemacu, and Khazanah’s MTC Fund, goes to mid-tier companies in the electrical and electronics, digital technology, aerospace, and medical devices sectors.
Where the research money lands
The RM6 billion is a combined figure spread across many ministries’ budgets, close to last year’s “nearly 5.9 billion ringgit” for research, development, commercialisation and innovation. For the two ministries that university researchers deal with most, the Federal Expenditure Estimates 2027 give the details.
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) receives RM1.29 billion for 2027, up from RM1.28 billion, comprising RM775.5 million in operating spending and RM516.9 million in development. Its fastest-growing line is at the National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia (NIBM), whose development money rises by more than 80 per cent, from RM25.4 million to RM46.4 million.
Its research agencies keep their operating grants, led by MIMOS Berhad with RM76.8 million. The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) receives RM90 million in development funding, and the ministry’s own funding and commercialisation work totals RM23.1 million.
At the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), two development projects carry the research label: RM203 million for university research scholarships and training in 2027, up slightly from this year’s amended RM202 million, and RM57.5 million for fundamental research, part of a RM235.5 million project.
More research money is still to come.
Grants for research universities, doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers will be set out as each ministry’s allocation is debated, along with the Malaysia Science Endowment (MSE), the sustainable research funding mechanism under MOSTI that the Academy of Sciences Malaysia implements.
Budget 2027 answered Datuk Chang’s call: it wrote commercialisation into the same sentence as the RM6 billion and gave university research its own fund for that journey. For labs with a prototype close to a product, the UNIVC Fund’s application details are the next piece of the puzzle, and the university’s commercialisation office is the natural first stop.
Further Reading
- Budget 2027 gives Malaysia’s universities RM19.1 billion, and their students a lighter load
- Budget 2027’s campus wins are on their way through Parliament
- Setting Malaysia’s Research Priorities — and Paying for Them
Sources
- Academy of Sciences Malaysia. (2026). Malaysia Science Endowment strengthens national innovation ecosystem. https://www.akademisains.gov.my/asm-focus/malaysia-science-endowment-strengthens-national-innovation-ecosystem/
- Bernama. (2026a, October 6). Second reading of Supply Bill 2027 this Friday at 3.30 pm. https://www.bernama.com/tv/news.php?id=2616079
- Bernama. (2026b, October 11). Budget 2027 reflects PM’s commitment to human development, stronger institutions – UUM. https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=2618541
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2025). Budget 2026 speech [English translation of the speech by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on 10 October 2025]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2026/ucapan/bs26.pdf
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2026a). Budget 2027 speech [English translation of the speech by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on 9 October 2026]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2027/ucapan/bs27.pdf
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2026b). Anggaran perbelanjaan persekutuan 2027: Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi (B.30 dan P.30) [Federal expenditure estimates 2027: Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2027/perbelanjaan/BP.30.pdf
- Ministry of Finance Malaysia. (2026c). Anggaran perbelanjaan persekutuan 2027: Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (B.64 dan P.64) [Federal expenditure estimates 2027: Ministry of Higher Education]. https://belanjawan.mof.gov.my/pdf/belanjawan2027/perbelanjaan/BP.64.pdf
- Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. (n.d.). Malaysia Science Endowment (MSE). https://www.mosti.gov.my/en/malaysia-science-endowment-mse/
- RTM. (2026, September 22). Belanjawan 2027: MOSTI harap dana sains, teknologi ditambah [Budget 2027: MOSTI hopes for more science and technology funding]. https://berita.rtm.gov.my/?p=699738
