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Malaysia to Review Incentives to Boost Technology Investments Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia will review incentives offered to technology companies in its Multimedia Super Corridor, improve funding and train more workers to boost investment in the area, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said. ``In order to further enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of the MSC, we will continue to strengthen the supporting environment for information and communication technology,'' Abdullah said in a speech posted on his Web site. The speech was delivered at the opening of a meeting of advisers for the technology area yesterday. Abdullah's government is trying to promote investment in technology, services, biotechnology and other areas to help Southeast Asia's third-largest economy sustain growth amid rising competition for manufacturing investments from China and other low-cost countries. Companies last year submitted plans to invest 29.3 billion ringgit ($7.8 billion) in Malaysia's manufacturing industry, compared with a revised 25.6 billion ringgit a year earlier. China, the world's seventh-largest economy, attracted a record $60.6 billion from foreign investors last year, as companies tapped low labor costs and a market of 1.3 billion consumers. The Multimedia Super Corridor, introduced by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1996, is an attempt by Malaysia
to a create high-technology area similar to California's Silicon Valley, by luring companies to set up research and development and other operations with tax breaks and other incentives. It aims to attract overseas and local technology companies to develop new products and services in Malaysia. Growth Companies in the high-technology area recorded sales of $1.6 billion in 2004, Abdullah said. Malaysia's information and communication technology industry grew 8.3 percent last year, faster than the economy, and spending by the industry is forecast to increase 10 percent by 2008 from $2.5 billion in 2003. The original area stretched from the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur to the international airport, and included the technology part of Cyberjaya and the administrative capital of Putrajaya. Abdullah, 65, who replaced Mahathir as premier in 2003, expanded the corridor to include the Bayan Lepas electronics manufacturing center in northern Penang state. Malaysia will re-examine and update the package of incentives that it offers to companies in the Super Corridor and set up a talent development institute to train workers needed by companies in the area, he said in the speech. The go...