Mahathir leaves for hi-tech sales blitz

Mahathir leaves for hi-tech sales blitz

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
left here yesterday for visits to the United States and Japan to
promote the country's newly created technology hub.

Mahathir will make a week-long trip to the United States
before proceeding to Japan on Jan. 18 to lure high-technology
investors to Malaysia's so-called multimedia super corridor
(MSC), launched by the premier last August.

The MSC is located in suburban Sepang, about 40 miles (64
kilometers) south of Kuala Lumpur between Malaysia's
administrative capital Putrajaya and the capital's new
international aiport.

Mahathir is scheduled to address an industry meeting at the
University of California, Los Angeles, before proceeding to San
Francisco where he is slated to meet 22 global multimedia
industry leaders.

They include Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and International
Business Machine Corp. chief Lou Gerstner, as well as key players
from Japan, Canada and Europe, officials said.