...Part III Input vs Output Based Performance

...performances among OIC member countries are said to be measured mostly based on inputs rather than outputs...huge investments on infrastructure like buildings, motorways, telecommunications etc...and other quick wins like Dubai Internet City/Industrial City/Knowledge Village etc...not to forget partnerships with several renowned academic institutions...are all brilliant efforts...and reflect modernity...but the main problem is those initiatives are mostly dependent on foreign professionals/experts...in Malaysia we have Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)...a brilliant project initiated by Tun Mahathir in 1996 have attracted many top foreign companies...tho probably better than DIC in nurturing local experts but anecdotal evidence shows that many MSC companies are still struggling to get local experts into the high-tech job markets and have to rely on experts from India and China...without a systematic and comprehensive local intellectual development plus a proper transfer of knowledge...the growth is not going to sustain in the longer term...just a quick thot for us all...cheers

...Part II Oil & Innovation

...i'm not an economist but read the figures with interest...19 of 57 OIC countries are blessed with rich natural resources...however, income from oil & gas is argued to have little direct impact on the development of local economies...oil-rich Arab countries are said to be spending their big money on imports from the West, investment overseas and military arms...which did not contribute to the building of a high growth entrepreneurial/innovation economy...for comparison, OIC countries (57 in total) spent only 1.8% of the World Total Gross Domestic Expenditures on R&D compared to EU (23.5%), US (33.5%) and Japan (13.4%)...the no. of researchers/scientists in OIC countries is also lowest with 649 researchers per million people compared to the world average (2532), EU (6494), Russia (5634), Korea (8700) and Japan (9061)...except Jordan and Tunisia, others are below the world average...and Malaysia (<1000)...of the 1.85 million patents filed worldwide in 2008, less than 1% are filed in the OIC countries...alhamdulillah Malaysia comes second after Turkey...similarly, the 63,000 'combined' no. of published articles in the scientific journals by OIC members in 2009 is much lower than individual countries like US, China, Germany, Japan and England...and 70% of those are published/dominated by only 5 countries like Turkey (1), Iran (2), Egypt (3), Malaysia (4) and Pakistan (5)...how about others?...for high-tech exports OIC contribute only 4.3% of world total compared to US (13.1%), EU (33.3%), China (19.3%), Korea (6.3%) and Japan (7.0%)...alhamdulillah Malaysia again is the biggest high-tech exporter 86.5% of OIC total (but need to remember that we are still depending on foreign companies like Intel investing in Malaysia to achieve that)...the figures reflect the lack of innovation among the OIC members...

...OIC Part I

...read interesting facts & figures about OIC and world R&D...57 OIC countries account 1/6 of the world area and more than 1/5 of the world populations...members countries represent high levels of heterogeneity and divergence in terms of economic structure and performance...22 of world's 49 least developed countries are OIC members (mostly agricultural-based)...28 middle income and 7 high income countries...total output/income & trade of OIC members are heavily concentrated in a few countries...10 (mostly oil-rich) countries contributed 71% of the total GDP and 73.5% of the total merchandise exports of OIC member countries...19 fuel-exporting countries depend mainly on the production and export of oil & gas for their growth and development...which put a question the prospect growth and sustainability of the countries in the long run (considering the low investment on economic and human development R&D)...imagine 30 or 50 years ahead when oil/gas is no longer important commodities...

...go far, stay long, see deep

...flew to Jordan on Friday, July 8th...another long boring flight...about 10 hours including 45 minutes on-board transit at Bangkok...i slept half of the way and spent another half reading book 'The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle'...the 3rd chapter starts with a very interesting quote 'go far, stay long, see deep'...kinda like a secret to become innovative...if we go farther, stay longer and see deeper, we'll understand the true meaning of 'observation'...a pre-requisite to become innovative, creative and inventive...together with the right motive or purpose or objective or whatever you wanna call it...now back to the purpose of my trip to Jordan...leaving my family again wasn't easy...but i have very important jobs to do...to give a 30-minute presentation about the idea of World Association of Islamic Business Schools...then to chair a meeting with Business Schools' deans/representatives from several OIC countries...and to speak about the idea at the press conference...that's the plan...so despite the jet lag, i spent several hours the night before the conference preparing my speech and organizing my mind for the important meeting...unfortunately...in fact very unfortunately...the event was poorly organized...chaotic...useless...felt really sick with the organizer who sense no feeling of guilt at all...i believe the motive/intention (nawaitu) was wrong from the beginning...hence the irresponsible/leisure attitude...what a waste...

...early morning

...haven't had a day break since coming back from oversea's trip...my jetlag problem has yet to go...yet july is so tight with so many big events and activities...regional trips...moving to the new office etc...and not to forget reports for my US and UK trip and actions to be taken...so here i am in the middle of the night 2am writing a blog...and sending/replying emails...i just can't sleep when my brain is active...a bit worry with my BP...on medication now but still sometimes feel the pressure...hopefully can take a good rest with my family (physically and spiritually) during Ramadhan...God bless us all