By NNN-Bernama
Ipoh (Malaysia) : The country’s involvement in space industry is part of broader efforts to attain the Vision 2020 objective of turning Malaysia into a developed country, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
He said to bring about progress, the government had to implement various initiatives, one of which was Malaysia’s foray into space science.
“We’ve worked hard to forge close relations with countries having space agencies like Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan and the United States. All these will bring us immense benefits,” he said when opening the Gugusan Manjoi Administrative and Commercial Complex here Monday.
Malaysia has joined the ranks of space-exloring nations after its astronaut, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha, spent 11 days in space doing various experiments on the International Space Station before returning to earth Sunday.
Abdullah said the considerable amount of money spent on the Malaysian space programme was not a waste considering the benefits that could be derived from it.
“It’s not a waste. We’ve the money and ability. There’s still money to carry out projects and programmes meant to enhance the well-being of the people and bring about further progress to the country,” he said.
Abdullah said Japan and several European countries had shown a keen interest in the outcome of experiments undertaken by the Malaysian astronaut, including the one on cancer cells.