KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 – The government is fully committed to the development of intellectual property (IP) financing, and its use as collateral by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to expand businesses.
Ministry of Finance Deputy Secretary-General (Policy) Datuk Mat Noor Nawi (photo) said for a start, the government has initiated a RM200 million IP financing scheme, to be offered through Malaysian Debt Ventures Bhd.
He said the government is also providing a two per cent interest rate subsidy and a 50 per cent guarantee through Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd.
“This is one way for the government to assist SMEs in increasing opportunities to bring them to the next commercialisation level,” he added.
He was speaking at the launch of the IP Valuation Roundtable with Financiers forum here today. Also present was Bank Negara Malaysia Assistant Governor, Bakarudin Ishak. Mat Noor said moving in tandem with the global landscape, the government is also committed to developing IP rights into a source of new wealth creation, and raise the business value chain to a higher level.
In this regard, the government has mandated Intellectual Property Corp of Malaysia (MyIPO) to drive the IP valuation initiatives, which currently focus on four deliverables, namely, training of local IP valuers, the valuation of IP rights for suitable local SMEs, developing a national IP valuation model and creating an IP market platform for IP rights to be transacted.
“MyIPO has been entrusted to develop a national valuation model that is ‘Malaysian’ in nature, suitable for local industries and financiers.
“The formulation of a national IP valuation model will also assist in supporting the acceptance of IP rights as collateral by lenders and financiers,” Mat Noor said.
MyIPO director-general Datuk Azizan Mohamad Sidin said IP rights have and always will be important in the global economy, and to not be left behind, Malaysia must rise to the challenge of making the nation a competitive force in emerging IP markets.
He said as the custodian of IP rights in Malaysia, MyIPO has been creating the needed awareness in IP protection and capacity building within the general public as well as among stakeholders.
“We are steadfast in helping SMEs develop their IPs into a source of new wealth creation. They have the option of using the IP rights to improve their competitive edge, generate revenue and improve access to financing,” he added.
Azizan Mohamad said apart from developing the IP valuation model and IP marketplace, MyIPO has also taken the proactive approach of reviewing existing IP legislation to cater to the demands of the evolving IP economy, whilst ensuring its harmonisation with international treaties.
The two-day IP Valuation Roundtable with Financiers forum is being organised by Bank Negara Malaysia, the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia and MyIPO.
It brought together about 100 participants from local financial institutions to share and discuss, ongoing national IP valuation initiatives towards creating needed market share for financial entities.
– BERNAMA
