KUCHING: The state government will support and work closely with industries to encourage the innovation and commercialisation of ideas, whether they have commercial applications or not.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang gave this assurance in his text of speech read by Modernisation of Agriculture (Research and Marketing) Assistant Minister Mong Dagang at the closing of the R&D Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) 2015 Expo.

Jabu said the government would continue investing in quality and high impact research at all levels, and he encouraged higher education institutes to put more time and money into new research and innovation according to the needs of the industry.

This will narrow the gap between research and commercialisation, said Jabu who is also Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture.

The two-day R&D Unimas 2015 Expo had 130 exhibitors, involving 82 researchers and 378 assistant researchers from the five main clusters of research at Unimas.

It is the eighth of its kind organised by the university’s Research and Innovation Management Centre.

The expo aims to highlight quality research products that can be brought to national and international level R&D competitions.

In his speech, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Prof Dr Kopli Bujang said the country wants to make innovation the main force of economic growth.

“The academia at Unimas must move from individual research and innovation to group research that involves various disciplines.”

Also present at the closing were Unimas Board of Directors chairman Datu Dr Hatta Solhi and Vice-Chancellor Prof Dato Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi.