Mahathir opens hi-tech park near Kuala Lumpur

Mahathir opens hi-tech park near Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad opened a multi-million ringgit high-technology park near Kuala Lumpur yesterday aimed at attracting multimedia and other core industries needed to help Malaysia evolve into a developed nation by 2020.

Opening the first phase of the 280-hectare Technology Park Malaysia, Mahathir said Malaysia has to "leap-frog" into the electronic age in order to catch up with the industrialized world.

Malaysia aspires to become a developed nation so that it will not be "looked down" and "trodden upon," he said, adding: "We want to be able to stand tall and have what they have."

Mahathir expressed confidence that Malaysians are capable of developing and mastering the high-tech skills and research needed to build up the country's technological edge.

"I believe there is nothing that anyone cannot learn if he really applies himself to it," he said and added that Malaysia is willing to purchase the necessary technology it lacks.

The park, in Bukit Jalil district, represents the first segment of the government's plan to create a "multi-media super corridor" of information technology-driven industries stretching from Kuala Lumpur to the new international airport in Sepang.

The park currently has 32 tenant companies, including telecommunications firm Binariang and Measat Broadcast Network System, which runs Malaysia's first satellite television network.

The first phase of the park, built at a cost of 237 million ringgit (US$94.8 million), encompasses industries dealing in information technology, software development, microelectronics, telecommunications and aerospace.

The 226 million ringgit second phase will be completed by 2000 and will target industries promoting research and development in fields such as biotechnology, medical and environmental technology, energy and pollution control.