Building Malaysia's STEM Capability to 2040

GFCC member the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) was tasked by the national government with a consequential assignment: identify what STEM capabilities Malaysia will need to compete globally through 2040.

The result is The Future of STEM Talent in Malaysia, a foresight report that uses a Delphi Approach to map critical STEM capabilities across a 2025–2040 horizon.

At the GFCC June Monthly Call, Dr. Tan Shu Ying, Senior Principal Analyst at MIGHT, walked members through the study's methodology, its findings on strategic STEM skills areas for building national capability, and the practical lessons that emerged from the research.

A push-and-pull framework for future skills

The study integrates horizon scanning, stakeholder engagement, technology assessment and a two-round Delphi process to identify the STEM areas Malaysia most needs — and can feasibly develop.

The framework evaluates two complementary forces: technology push, which surveys emerging technologies, and demand pull, which maps market and industry needs. Based on this analysis, MIGHT identified ten skill areas for national capability building:

1. Artificial Intelligence and Data Technologies;

2. Computational and Physical Sciences;

3. Digital Security and Cyber Defense;

4. Energy and Engineering Infrastructure;

5. Environmental and Sustainability Sciences;

6. Food Security and Agricultural Systems;

7. Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences;

8. Materials Science and Advanced Manufacturing;

9. Smart Systems and Digital Transformation;

10. Strategic Planning and Risk Management..

The idea is that these high-priority areas should anchor curriculum renewal, educator development and shared digital and research infrastructure — investments that raise quality across programmes and create pathways relevant to a range of industries.

The goal is that by building this foundation talent pipeline's become responsive to fast-moving technology cycles without losing sight of Malaysia's economic structure and its ambitions to 2040.

The ten areas define where to build. But notably, across all of them, one principle holds: the most critical capability is the disposition to learn, unlearn and relearn. One example clearly makes the point: programming and coding, long treated as a core STEM priority, is declining in relative importance as generative AI absorbs more of that function.

The broader lesson is that skills development in an era of fast-paced change requires constant adaptation, flexibility and autonomy. This willingness to continuously reskill is what determines whether individuals — and economies — keep pace.

What comes next

Readiness, the study makes clear, is not a given. Malaysia's current position is assessed as moderate, which means the work ahead is substantial. MIGHT is now engaging a broad multi-stakeholder coalition to ensure that investment in STEM capability is coordinated and sustained across institutions.

"There's still significant work to be done, and we need to ensure we're investing in the priority skills that have been identified. That's why we're working closely with ministries, scholarship providers, and industry partners to create more opportunities for students to develop these skills, increase participation, and accelerate upskilling in these critical areas," explains Dr. Shu Ying.

That coalition-building reflects something central to how MIGHT approaches foresight. As a policy think tank, its studies are designed not only to anticipate the future but to create the conditions for acting on it — strengthening coordination across government and building the shared vision that long-term reform requires. For many developing countries, that consensus-building function is a key strategic asset.