The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), the megavision of Malaysia's Prime Minister YAB DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD will create the region's first Silicon Valley by drawing hi-tech businesses from around the world to produce innovative new product for information-technology sector.

Physically, the MSC will be a 15 x 50 KM square area spreading south of Kuala Lumpur. It begins with the Kuala Lumpur City Centre in the North and runs to Kuala Lumpur International Airport at Sepang in the South. It is bounded by the North-South Highway in the East and the new Coastal Link Highway in the West. The MSC includes two other mega-projects in its centre -- Putra Jaya, the new administrative centre for the federal government, with government departments throughout the country. It will also be a multimedia network linking government agencies, the public and businesses for collaborative and efficient delivery of government services. It is also the administrative capital, and an IT City, a development of smart buildings with the latest information infrastructure that is being tailored to meet both the living and business needs of the knowledge worker.

Most of these projects are underway and each is exciting in its own right: KLCC is the Northern gateway to the MSC and is graced by the tallest towers in the world. They already dominate our skyline at 450 metres each and constitute a city within a city. KLIA will be ready before the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and will have initially 80 gates with two parallel runways. It will be an airport in the forest to ensure it is an appropriate international gateway to the environmentally beautiful MSC. KLIA will also become an integrated logistic hub with the latest in IT to facilitate movements of people and goods.

Putra Jaya is Malaysia's new electronic government administrative centre and will also be developed as an `intelligent' garden city. It will provide a balanced urban environment for 250,000 people served by state of the art communications and transportation systems. IT City will be located in West Putrajaya and provide top quality business facilities, residential housing, leisure and recreation facilities, and state of the art supporting infrastructure. It will support a working population of approximately 150,000 and a living population of over 100,000.

In between these megaprojects, there will be ample land to be developed especially for the multimedia industry and other companies using leading edge information infrastructure to provide products and services to their clients. The entire area will be served by a 2.5-10GB, 100 percent digital fiberoptic network that will directly link the MSC with ASEAN, Japan, U.S. and Europe. There will also be high speed road and rail links. Its location between the airport and KL puts the MSC in the most convenient location for industrial IT innovators and knowledge workers.

This special area will be a global `test-bed' for the new roles of Government, new cyber laws and guarantees, collaborations between Government and companies, companies and companies, new broadcasting and new types of entertainment, education, delivery of healthcare, and applications of new technologies. We are taking a single-minded approach to developing the country using the new tools offered by the Information Age. The MSC will be the R&D centre for the information based industries, to develop new codes of ethics in a shrunken world when everyone is a neighbour to everyone else, where we have to live with each other without unnecessary tension and conflicts.

MSC will have a state-of-the-art infrastructure and a gamut of financial incentive to lure major technology companies from around the world. Incentive include tax holidays of up to ten years, liberal ownership rules, and the duty-free imports of multimedia equipment. Moreover, companies that use the MSC as their regional centre are entitled to tender for infrastructure project in the MSC.

Malaysia already touts a strong background in the area of technology. Since the 1970s, the government has successfully developed a major industry in the assembly of semiconductor chips. Multinational corporations continue to invest heavily in this sector. But clearly, with an eye of moving Malaysia up the technological ladder, the government is concentrating on the MSC as a magnet for the entrepreneurial development of both computer software and hardware.

The initial interest in the MSC from both local and foreign companies is impressive. The government recently revealed 150 companies have applied for MSC status. Some of the hi-tech top guns that have expressed keen investment interest include Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystem, Oracle and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone.

While foreign companies may not require new funding to set up research and development facilities, many of the local companies would. For this season, the government recently set up a new stock exchange, call Mesdaq, which is patterned after the US-based Nasdaq. Mesdaq enables hi-tech companies to raise funds for expansion purposes.

To qualify for MSC status, a company must be a provider or heavy user of multimedia products and services, employ a substantial number of skilled workers and have in place a programme to transfer technology, or contribute in other ways to the MSC's development. Only companies with MSC status can apply for contracts from the government.

The MSC is planned to target seven flagship application: electronic government, smart schools, telemedicine, multipurpose cards, research-and-development clusters, borderless marketing centres and a worldwide manifacturing webs.

The physical and environmental infrastructure provisions will ensure that an attractive "Garden Corridor" is created with custom-made commercial, residential, civic, institutional, and recreational precincts. Intelligent cities, buildings, and superstructures are being designed to support a pioneering multimedia community.

Planned to world-class standards, the concept behind the physical creation of the Corridor emphasises both aesthetics and functionality. It promises a quality of life that is distinctive, balanced, and productive - and in tune with the needs of a thriving multimedia community.

All companies that create, distribute, integrate, or use multimedia products and services can apply for MSC Status. The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) guarantee a 30-day turnaround for applications, and will coach companies through the selection process. Companies awarded MSC Status will enjoy the government's Bill of Guarantees and other compelling incentive including:

Substantial financial incentives, including 0 percent income tax for up 10 years or 100 percent investment tax allowance, and no duties on multimedia equipment. The right to tender for key implementation contracts for Flagship Applications. Only companies with MSC Status will be able to apply for these contracts.

Support from the MDC's one-stop client centre that will expedite visas and other licences and permits. Direct access to Malaysia's top leadership through membership of the MSC's International Advisory Panel, Chaired by the Prime Minister, and the Founders' Council, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. First movers to the MSC will be invited to sit on these high-level councils.