MSC Malaysia, formerly known as the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC; Malay: ), is a

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

and high-technology business district spanning the federal territories of

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

and

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...

, south-central

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

, parts of western Negeri Sembilan and southern

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Geographical definition

The MSC proper spans Petronas Towers in downtown

, extending through

Cyberjaya Cyberjaya (a portmanteau of ''cyber'' and ''Putrajaya'') is a planned city with a science park as its core that forms part of Greater Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. It is located in Sepang District, Selangor. Cyberjaya is adjacent to and developed ...

, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and most of Sepang constituency, as well as parts of Bandar Tun Razak, Puchong and Serdang constituencies, before terminating at Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, which is part of the neighbouring

Malaysia Vision Valley The Malaysia Vision Valley (MVV; Malay language, Malay: ) is a development corridor that encompasses the districts of Seremban District, Seremban and Port Dickson District, Port Dickson in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The corridor wa ...

corridor. The MSC also has an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

within the Iskandar Malaysia corridor in the southern state of

, known as the MSC Cyberport, established in 2006.

History

The MSC program was officially inaugurated by the fourth Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on 12 February 1996. The establishment of the program was crucial to accelerate the objectives of Vision 2020 and to transform Malaysia into a modern state by 2020, with the adoption of a knowledge-based society framework.

Purpose

The MSC flagship applications were launched to boost the MSC Malaysia initiatives and to create a hub for innovative producers and users of multimedia technology. Consortia comprising local and foreign companies (MNCs) collaborated with government agencies, departments and ministries to enhance the socio-economic development of Malaysia in the information age. The vision and mission of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) as expressed by Dr Mahathir Mohammad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia at the time (1981–2003), is essentially this:

MSC is paramount to leapfrog (Malaysia) into the 21st century and to achieve Malaysia's Vision 2020, the MSC was created to endeavour the best environment to harness the full potential of the multimedia without any artificial limits. MSC is a global test bed (hub), where the limits of the possible can be explored, and new ways of living, working, and playing in the new area of the Information Age.

The Multimedia Super Corridor is a government-designated zone in designed to leapfrog

into the information and knowledge age. It aims to attract companies with temporary tax breaks and facilities such as high-speed Internet access and proximity to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. MSC Malaysia covers an area of approximately × (that is, ) stretching from the Petronas Towers to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and including the towns of

and

. It was announced by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the Multimedia Asia Conference on 1 August 1996. Mahathir's visit to the United States of America in January 1997 to promote the MSC to companies succeeded in attracting the interest of many large information technology companies. During the visit, an international advisory panel comprising 30 information technology experts were formed to exchange ideas toward the success of the MSC. The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC, formerly MDC) was created to oversee development of the MSC. It was later renamed to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). File:KLIA_MTB%26Tower.jpg, Kuala Lumpur International Airport at the south border File:KL Outing 022b.jpg, Petronas Towers at the north border File:Masjid Putrajaya.jpg,

File:CYBER.jpg,

Effects on press freedom

Though Malaysian law had provided for strict government controls on print media since 1984, a founding principle of MSC Malaysia was that government censorship of the Internet would not be permitted. Seeing a loophole, journalist Steven Gan and colleague Premesh Chandran started an online news resource that would be free of the controls that they felt stifled print media. In November 1999, the pair founded Malaysiakini, an online, independent news source that would become one of Malaysia's most popular websites. It was awarded a Free Media Pioneer award from the International Press Institute in 2001, and Gan was awarded one of the 2000 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards for his work with the site.

MSC status companies

Since 1997, Malaysian and foreign companies could apply for MSC status. Those approved were provided with a certificate signed by two government ministers listing additional rights and benefits for that company. By 2017 there were over 3000 MSC status companies. Benefits included exemption from Malaysian income tax for ten years, and streamlined immigration of key workers. The first few companies awarded MSC status included Telekom,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

and

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

Depictions

The reverse side of the 1996 series RM5 banknote featured a map of the Multimedia Super Corridor.

References

External links

Mscmalaysia.my MSC Malaysia websiteMscmalaysia.my MSC Malaysia Animation and Creative Content Center (MAC3)Mscmalaysia.my MSC Malaysia Capability Development Programmes (CDP)
{{coord missing, Malaysia Sepang District Development Corridors in Malaysia High-technology business districts in Malaysia Information technology places Science and technology in Malaysia Economy of Malaysia Klang Valley Mass media companies of Malaysia Populated places in Selangor Populated places established in 1996 1996 establishments in Malaysia