Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said here on Wednesday that the country was determined to be the regional hub for solar energy.

The country's investment-friendly policies had so far attracted more than four billion U.S. dollars foreign direct investment to the solar photo-voltaic industry, added Najib.

"Over the next decade, we intend to focus on increasing the flow of foreign and domestic direct investments in green technology," Najib said at the inaugural International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM 2010) here.

The event was organized by Malaysian Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry and the Green Purchasing Network Malaysia (GPNM) .

"I am happy to note that many countries chiefly, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, South Korea, Japan and China have committed to help Malaysia develop and apply green technology," said Najib.

He also said the global marketplace today offered immense opportunities to businesses that employed green technology to produce and supply eco-products and services, stressing that to employ green technology as a new growth engine was not an option, but a 'must'.

"The world needs a new economic driver one that is built on green technology. Some people feel that the difficult financial circumstances that the world now faces mean that the climate- change agenda would be relegated to the back-burner, against other 'more pressing' issues confronting the world, I believe otherwise.

"This is because when it comes to the global environment, no nation is an island. Damage to one part of the environment affects the entire world. The melting of the polar ice-caps, for example, causes sea levels to rise everywhere, constituting a threat to all littoral and coastal states," said Najib.

Najib said Malaysia's Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan had targeted about six percent or 985 megawatts of electricity generation in the country to come from renewable sources by 2015, and that amount was expected to increase to 11 percent or two gigawatts.

"A dedicated statutory body called the Sustainable Energy Development Authority, or SEDA Malaysia, and the Renewable Energy Act will facilitate and regulate the growth of renewable energy in the country," said Najib.