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.