numerous grant schemes have been directed to basic research and commercialisation of rd but in a relatively piecemeal way competition between the malaysian states to attract research institutions and higher education campuses is intense the scarcity of land in penang and the high cost of it act as a barrier to investment according to the ncer blueprint a number of industrial estates and technology parks remain underutilised or unutilised overreliance on the techpush model is making knowledge transfer more difficult a penang science council driven by industry has been created to ensure that penang can implement its strategy