Model city to be tourist hot spot

Model city to be tourist hot spot

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia will soon promote its new administrative capital as a prime destination for foreign visitors who appreciate town planning and architectural grandeur, a senior tourism official said on Sunday.

The government will try to get travel agents to include Putrajaya, about 40 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur, in their tour packages, Deputy Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.

Putrajaya, a sprawling 4,580-hectare metropolis of landscaped gardens and domed buildings, is Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's pet project and the current seat of government.

Over the past two years, government departments have begun moving from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, into Putrajaya under an ambitious scheme to have all government employees working from and perhaps living there by mid-2002.