Breaks for project 'intelligent island'<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore offered yesterday tax and other
\nincentives to foreign firms which take an early stake in an
\nambitious project to lay high-technology cables across the entire
\ncity-state and transform it into an \"intelligent island.\"<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said 14 multinational
\ncorporations (MNCs) had committed to invest a total of more than
\nS$100 million (US$70 million) in Singapore ONE, or One Network
\nfor Everyone.<\/p>\n
He said the government had set up a \"pioneer club\" for all
\ncompanies which commit to launch a commercial service or apply to
\njoin the ONE project by June 30, 1998, entitling them to grants,
\ntax relief and other benefits.<\/p>\n
The project involves linking all homes, offices, commercial
\nestablishments and government offices in Singapore with a high-
\ncapacity cable system that can carry voice, data and video into
\ncomputers.<\/p>\n
With a click of a computer mouse, residents here would be able
\nto \"chat\" with a government official, pay bills, conclude a
\nbusiness deal, do research, order pizza or surf the Internet.<\/p>\n
Public computer kiosks would be set up offering access to the
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
The network is expected to be completed by 2001, turning
\nSingapore into the world's first fully multimedia-cabled
\n\"intelligent island.\"<\/p>\n
The city-state of three million people already has one phone
\nfor every two residents, and the highest density of Internet
\nusers in Southeast Asia. It is aggressively promoting information
\ntechnology (IT) to enhance its competitive edge in the next
\ncentury.<\/p>\n
\"The Singapore ONE project aims to further promote the
\npervasive use of IT in Singapore, and is an important part of our
\nIT industry development strategy,\" Lee said Thursday at a signing
\nceremony for partners in the project.<\/p>\n
He said the project would give MNCs further reasons to
\ncontinue to invest in Singapore, which now serves as a regional
\nhub for Asian, North American and European companies.<\/p>\n
With the ONE network, Singapore could be a \"test bed\" for new
\ntechnology before it is applied to the rest of the region, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
A rival IT project has been launched by neighboring Malaysia,
\nwhich is fast catching up with Singapore in the economic race.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad returned recently from an
\ninternational roadshow to attract MNCs to a \"multimedia super
\ncorridor\" being built off the capital Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>",
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