US Multinationals bring Chiefs of Small US High Tech Firms to Malaysia

US Multinationals bring Chiefs of Small US High Tech Firms to Malaysia
Program aimed at building Malaysia-U.S. technology partnerships

PRESS CONFERENCE TO BE HELD:
Thursday, September 7, 2000, 5:00-6:00 PM at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur

Washington, DC, August 24, 2000. Leading U.S. multinationals, in cooperation with the US-ASEAN Business Council, are conducting an all expenses paid trip to Malaysia for Chief Executive Officers of nine cutting-edge small and medium sized U.S. high-tech firms from September 2-9. The purpose of the trip is to explore trade and investment opportunities in Malaysia’s rapidly-growing high-tech corridors. The companies, which include Abaxis Inc., Control Products, eMagin Corporation, IonIdea, KnowledgeSentry.Net, LANovation, Neon Technology Inc., Talentsoft, Inc., and 10best.com, will visit the Multimedia Super Corridor, Penang, and Kedah (Kulim High-Tech Park). American Express Company, Cisco Systems, Oracle Corporation, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts are providing support for the mission. Malaysia Airlines is generously providing discounted airfare for the delegation.

“There is tremendous synergy between U.S. and Malaysian IT companies.” said Ernest Z. Bower, President of the US-ASEAN Business Council. “Malaysia has set out the right policies and incentives to attract U.S. technology companies, and with its well-educated workforce and tremendous local talent, Malaysia is well positioned to enjoy continued rapid growth in the information technology sector.” A number of major U.S. IT companies have announced new business agreements and ventures in Malaysia in recent weeks, including Agilent, IBM, Lycos, Microsoft, and Motorola.

“The Council has organized this mission as part of its commitment to creating technology partnerships between Malaysian and U.S. firms.” Bower added. The participating companies are new-to-market, high-tech firms in a diverse range of IT industry sub-sectors. The companies have a variety of objectives for this mission, including exploring joint venture possibilities, research and development, manufacturing, and network operations.

Background on the participating companies is available on the US-ASEAN Business Council Web site at: www.us-asean.org/Malaysia/hightechmission.

"As our company expands into Southeast Asia, I am extremely excited and honored to be participating in such a prestigious event as the SME CEO Trade Mission to Malaysia.” said Mr. Brice Bay, CEO of 10best.com. “This event provides an outstanding opportunity for our wireless information services company to network with government and business leaders in this region." Victor Tong, CEO of Talentsoft added that "It is an honor to be selected from the country's top IT CEOs for this mission. Although Talentsoft has had extensive business dealings in Asia, this visit will hopefully be our first step into the Malaysian market.” Chris Berghoff, CEO of Control Products, said that “With the new global economy, Control Products views this trade mission as a valuable opportunity to develop strategic partners in Malaysia. Malaysia is viewed by the business community as an important center for international trade.”

The US-ASEAN Business Council works closely with the Malaysian private sector through the Malaysia-U.S. Business Council, and both groups have placed priority on attracting new-to-market companies to Malaysia, particularly those in high-tech industries. The mission is being organized with the support of the Multimedia Development Corp., the Penang Development Corp., the Kulim Technology Park Corp., and the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) Malaysia.

U.S. Exports to Malaysia last year reached slightly over US$9 billion, while imports stood at US$21.4 billion. Malaysia is the largest source of U.S. imports among the ten ASEAN countries, and ranks 11^th globally as a source of U.S. imports. Since 1990, U.S. investment in Malaysia has grown more than 300%, and stood at US$5.9 billion at the end of 1999. Most U.S. investment in Malaysia is concentrated in the manufacturing sector, particularly in electronics and components.

US-ASEAN Business Council is a private, non-profit membership organization working to promote increased trade and investment between the U.S. and the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). For information on the US-ASEAN Business Council or general information on the ASEAN region, please contact John Goyer at jgoyer@usasean.org or visit the Council's Web site at www.us-asean.org.

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