Contents:

BACKGROUND

WHAT IS THE MULTIMEDIA SUPER CORRIDOR?

WHAT KIND OF MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WILL BE ENCOURAGED IN THE MSC?

WHY LOCATE IN THE MSC?

WHAT ARE THE OTHER ADVANTAGES OF INVESTING IN MALAYSIA'S MULTI-MEDIA INDUSTRY?

SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER

BACKGROUND

Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was officially announced by the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad in his speech while officiating the launch of Putrajaya, Malaysia's new administrative capital on 29 August 1995.

WHAT IS THE MULTIMEDIA SUPER CORRIDOR?

The Multimedia Super Corridor is an area, 15km by 40km, encompassing the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Putrajaya and the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) which will be developed by as a high-growth centre. Within this area a multimedia catalyst centre will be located. World-class multimedia corporations will be invited to locate their business units and R&D facilities in this catalyst centre to be used as a springboard to serve the regional and world markets for multimedia products and services.

WHAT KIND OF MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WILL BE ENCOURAGED IN THE MSC?

The MSC will become the centre for state-of-the-art products in areas such as teleservices, gateway services, resale/refile, remote data services (input/programming), Islamic banking etc. The following are examples of services and products which will be produced at the MSC for the world market:

1.ASIC design

2.niche component manufacturing eg imaging, smart cards, video computing.

3.wafer fabrication

4.high technology packaging

5.component manufacturing

6.custom chip manufacturing

7.design and manufacture of multi-media components.

8.electronic publishing

9.cine production, animation services

10.multimedia communication software

11.communication equipment

12.intelligent information kiosks

WHY LOCATE IN THE MSC?

12 reasons why the MSC is the most desirable location for multimedia companies:

The multimedia / IT industry is the designated high priority strategic sector for development under the seventh Malaysia plan. Thus, the MSC presents a golden opportunity to participate and benefit from Malaysia's high economic growth predicted at 8% pa over the next 5 years.

The MSC presents a unique opportunity to be part of the most recent global, high-growth multimedia development centre along with the other key global multimedia corporations.

The MSC offers a firm foothold in the next decade's high-growth region in the Asia-pacific.

The MSC will have the best business environment in Asia for innovation and creativity.

The MSC will provide Malaysia's traditional economic advantages such as lower production costs, abundance of resources, stable political and socio-economic environment and existing incentive packages as well as new and attractive incentives for investment in multi-media/it industries.

The MSC will provide access to Malaysia's well-developed, world-wide trade links, including access to the markets of China, India, the South-South nations, Africa as well as the traditional links with the commonwealth members nations, OIC member nations and others.

The MSC will have world-class physical and information infrastructure including fast access to the world's most modern airport linking all capitals of the world; fast access to world-class port facilities; global megabit fibre-optic telecommunication links; highway links to the whole of peninsula Malaysia and also Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south. Daily multiple flights to Sabah and Sarawak; highways linking to Kuala Lumpur as a world-class financial and other business services centre; availability of sites and services for development of business/manufacturing/r&d premises; one-stop service centre for investment facilitation and proximity to most of the key government and public sector agencies at putrajaya;

Availability of skilled manpower.

Government-backed protection of IP.

Availability of research facilities and personnel for joint development of products and services.

Clean, healthy living amidst Malaysia's greenery and exotic tropical forests as well as abundance of areas for eco-tourism, golfing, sea sports. The MSC will developed on the eco-media concept.

WHAT ARE THE OTHER ADVANTAGES OF INVESTING IN MALAYSIA'S MULTI-MEDIA INDUSTRY?

Investing in Malaysia's budding multi-media industry presents various opportunities and benefits. These include first-in-line advantages, access to a growing market internally as well as globally for multi-media products and services and availability of resources to exploit the regional niche markets for language-based IT products for the large regional Chinese, Indian and Bahasa Malaysia markets.

MALAYSIA AS AN EDUCATION HUB

Malaysia plans to become a regional hub for education. Towards this, measures are being taken to liberalise the education sector to encourage more private and foreign educational institutions to set up joint-ventures, twinning facilities and branch campuses in Malaysia. These facilities are open to foreign students.

Under the Seventh Malaysia Plan, the use of distance learning technology will be promoted in a major way to facilitate the provision of educational services to the less developed areas as well as to allow for off-campus courses to serve remote students, both local and regional. The use of multi-media, interactive technology will be enhanced to ensure the effectiveness of this programme.

In the light of the above, there is expected to be a exponential increase in the demand for IT especially multi-media products, both hardware and software, as well as services, to cater to this expanding market.

MALAYSIA AS A HUB FOR MEDICAL SERVICES

Over the last three decades, Malaysia has built up its experience, capability and facilities in the medical field in areas such as cardiac surgery, medical technology and hospital management. Malaysia plans to utilise these capabilities as well as its availability of land for the development of health and medical centres, to provide state-of-the-art health and medical services to the local as well as the regional markets. At the same time, under the Seventh Plan, Malaysia plans to implement telemedicine services. These again will contribute to the major increase in demand for multi-media products and services to support this sector.

MALAYSIA AS A TELECOMMUNICATIONS HUB

Since 1987, Malaysia has liberalised its telecommunications sector. As a further measure to contribute to its rapid growth, multiple suppliers of basic and value- added services have been licensed over the past few years. There is also a move among these service providers to go into more state-of-the-art services such as video-conferencing, telecommerce and teleservices. This presents major opportunities for joint-ventures to develop new products and services to serve the burgeoning global demand for telecommunication infrastructure and services.

PUTRAJAYA, KLIA AND KLCC

The three mega projects scheduled for completion in 1998, namely Putrajaya, the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the KL CITY CENTRE (KLCC) will again act as major consumers of multimedia products and services. Putrajaya is being developed as an intelligent city, which will use state-of-the-art IT to showcase electronic goverence and public administration at its best. The applications being developed for Putrajaya will act as models for adoption by other government agencies at local level as well as for export to other developing nations.

KLIA will also act as the vehicle for the development of IT applications for airport management services.

The KLCC is being designed to create a visible and viable commercial enclave in KL. It will be a self-contained, city-within-city. Infrastructure will emphasise on access and efficient transportation, with KLCC being served by the LRT, roadways and other proposed inter-city transportation systems. It will have the latest in telecommunications and be linked directly to the country's first telecommunications satellite. KLCC will have intelligent buildings admist a large rest and recreation park.

The above mentioned national development programmes have already been set in motion and present a major opportunity for the development of new and customised multi-media applications and products which will have a ready local as well as global market.

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