Malaysia aims to increase its ratio of researchers and engineers five-fold by 2010, and will intensify efforts to lure highly-skilled citizens working overseas back home, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Tuesday.

With rising competition from China, Malaysia can no longer afford to compete on low labour and land costs but must enhance its economic and technological capabilities to remain resilient, he said while launching a business conference here.

Malaysia must strive to be "creators of technology" in its transition towards a knowledge-based economy and towards this, it must increase its pool of skilled workers especially in science and technology, he said.

"We hope to increase our ratio of researchers and engineers five-fold by 2010, from 15 for every 10,000 workers now to 75 for every 10,000 workers by 2010," said Abdullah, who is also finance minister.

"We will promote a diverse mix of science and technology workers, from laboratory specialists to technology brokers and technology evaluators."

New incentives

Abdullah told reporters later that the government would provide research infrastructure, tax facilities and other incentives under its "brain-gain" programs to woo more talented Malaysians overseas back home.

The government is prepared to consider new incentives if there are such requests and also welcomes foreign knowledge workers to Malaysia, he said.

"We encourage Malaysians who have successfully ventured into the field of research overseas to return and continue with their research here," he added.

Malaysia launched its hi-tech dream in 1996 when it established the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), an enclave south of the capital Kuala Lumpur modeled after California's Silicon Valley.

But industry analysts said the MSC was creating jobs faster than the number of skilled workers churned out by the education system. More than 21,000 jobs are expected to be created within the MSC this year, up ten-fold from some 2,000 jobs in 1997. - AFP