Developing Competitive Scientific Infrastructure for Knowledge-based Economies in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of Malaysia and Singapore

The economic ramifications of the creation of a knowledge-based economy (KBE) are that it would increase the competitiveness of a country and at the same time increase its stock of knowledge for future economic innovations. Economists have now shifted their focus to the creation and diffusion of knowledge to explain the varying levels of this economic growth and development. In the last couple of decades, many countries have shown high economic performance by knowledge creation and diffusion to the various sectors of the economy. This has come to be described as Knowledge-based Economy (KBE). Malaysia and Singapore, among Southeast Asian countries, have shown tremendous success in economic development by transforming their economies and have moved on to creating knowledge-based economies. This paper explores the scientific infrastructure development in Southeast Asian knowledge-based economies using a case study about Malaysia and Singapore. The case analysis shows that Singapore is one of the most successful countries in the region that pursued appropriate policies to develop its scientific infrastructure towards becoming a knowledge-based economy. Malaysia, while showing some developments in its scientific infrastructure is yet to attain a status comparable to Singapore.