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.