Innovation Can Spur Country's Economic Power

PETALING JAYA (Selangor, Malaysia), Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Innovation, seen as a source of softpower, has the ability to expand a country's economic power and its capability, Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said on Thursday night. He said softpower, defined as persuasion through popular culture and disseminated through cyberspace, will be the primary influence and the new definition of global power. "Looking East, within Asia lies a number of cultures and ways of life which can serve as softpower. A nation's softpower can in fact be defined as its national brand," he said in a special address at the 3rd World Chinese Economic Forum here. He said the flow of popular culture from these lands not only earn the producing countries foreign exchange but also, almost unknowingly, build people-to-people friendship and loyalty that would take years, if not decades, of traditional state diplomacy to produce. In the case of Malaysia, its softpower lies on innovation, of which without it, a nation's culture can fossilise as heritage legacies. "Without innovation, an economy's capability to attain and retain economic power is limited. Innovation drives entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship drives competition," he said. Ahmad Husni said in the development of Malaysia's softpower, its greatest competitive advantage is its multi-culture mix. He said the three primary races -- the Malays, Chinese and Indians -- are the cultural bridges to and beyond Southeast Asia, to China and India, onward to the expansive and wealthy minority markets in the United States, Canada, Australasia and Europe. Later, Ahmad Husni witnessed the presentation of lifetime achievement awards to several business leaders by former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The recipients were Dr John So (for Leadership in Community), Khoo Kay Peng (Global Business), Dr Jeffrey Cheah (Education), Ronnie Chan (Property Development), Ho Kwon Ping (Resort Development), Jack Ma (Technology), Tiong Hiew King (Media Industry), Lee Oi Hian (Oil Palm), Vincent Tan (National Philanthropy), Dr Vijay Eswaran (Regional Philanthropy) and Tony Fernandes (Air Travel). -- BERNAMA Malaysia