Strengthening the national innovation system (NIS) of the Philippines: Lessons from Malaysia and Thailand

Abstract

Summary This paper briefly describes the efforts of Malaysia and Thailand in developing their national innovation systems (NIS) as they attempt to attain sustained economic growth and competitiveness in the global business environment. It also seeks to generate insights that would be useful for the Philippines given the current state of its own NIS, and given its resource constraints as a developing economy. The experiences of Malaysia and Thailand provide additional empirical support for some of the propositions raised by scholars who have studied NIS dynamics. The key insights generated are as follows: (1) Visionary leadership is critical in developing a country's NIS; (2) Innovation policy must be linked to the overall economic and development goals of the country, and must be adequately supported by targeted programs; (3) Focusing on a few sectors serves to concentrate scarce resources on the priority areas; (4) Integrating efforts through a coordinating body enhances the ability of the government to mobilize limited resources by reducing activities that duplicate each other, but could also worsen bureaucratic red tape; and (5) Government programs and policy instruments must be designed to fit the requirements of firms that face a variety of constraints and have different motives for undertaking innovation.