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MRANTI’s CEO: If we truly want to create meaningful change in the ecosystem, we cannot continue operating the same way

ID

7835

Status

summarized

Published

26 Jul 2026, 12:09 AM

Fetched

27 Jul 2026, 2:56 PM

Provider

Digital News Asia

Category

malaysia-tech

Original URL

https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/mrantis-ceo-if-we-truly-want-create-meaningful-change-ecosystem-we-cannot-continue

Source URL

https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/rss.xml

Excerpt

In an ambitious reset, Ashran Ghazi pushes commercialization beyond traditional innovation programmes Bets success on delivering an Innovation District Model that focuses on actual ecosystem outcomes Malaysia has long aspired to become an innovation-driven economy, with tens of billions of ringgit invested over the years in research and development, startups, grants, and digital initiatives. However, translating these ideas into scalable businesses and nationally impactful industries has often proven more difficult. Under the 12th Malaysia Plan, the government allocated approximately RM3.2 billion to research and development across various sectors. Yet, according to reports and studies, the rate of commercialisation has fallen short of expectations. That is the gap MRANTI now wants to address. Make no mistake, it is a huge challenge. During a media briefing in May at MRANTI Innovation Park, Bukit Jalil, Ashran Ghazi (pic), MRANTI CEO who came on board in Dec 2025, laid out a broader vision for the agency. It was about repositioning MRANTI as a national innovation orchestrator focused on commercializing technology and aligning ecosystems. “MRANTI is not a programme. It is an accelerator for the commercialisation of technology,” Ashran said during a media briefing session. “It is a replicable system where every stage is designed to lead.” MRANTI was formed through the merger of MaGIC and Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) in Nov 2021. Under its current direction, MRANTI appears to be moving beyond its role as a technology park operator. It is aiming to build what Ashran repeatedly described as a “Mission-Driven Innovation District”, where national problems are solved through living, working, testing, and scaling together. Before any of these activities bear fruit, taking check of what MRANTI has achieved between 2022 (since it was established in Nov 2021) and 2025 – during which time it was led by Dzuleira Abu Bakar (April 2021- Sept 2023) and Dr Rais Hussin (Oct 2023- Sept 2025) – and based on data shared MRANTI, the agency said it recorded a cumulative economic impact of US$409 million (RM1.675 billion) through investments, revenue creation, and ecosystem partnerships facilitated across its initiatives. It did not share the formula for how it came up with the amount. Over the same period, 7,394 startups, universities, and SMEs participated in MRANTI-linked accelerator programs, commercialization initiatives, funding facilitation efforts, and innovation platforms. No details are available of the impact of these engagements. The agency also launched 16 innovation sandboxes under the National Technology & Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) initiative to help companies test technologies in real-world environments before scaling commercially. Moving beyond programs Ashran noted that research Institutes, universities, corporates, and startups are all working on innovation, but that the vast majority of efforts still happen in silos. And when go