The Edge Malaysia, February 1, 2010

When the architect of Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first  visited i-City in the early 1990s the project was then conceptualised by I-Berhad, the developer, as a science park. However it was fortuitous that the Asian Economic Crisis caused the project to be put on hold, because when the project was resumed in the 2000s, Malaysia by then had an alternative technology park model - the MSC.

Conceived as the way forward for Malaysia to be involved in the knowledge-based or k-economy the MSC was originally restricted to a narrow corridor stretching from Cyberjaya to the Petronas Twin Towers. When i-City was conceptualised as a MSC Cybercentre, the MSC had just been extended to Penang. However this did not deter i-City from creating a digital city that is today not only certifled as a MSC Cybercentre but is also a benchmark for future MSC Cybercentres.

Dr Mahathir, who recently visited i-City and saw the crystallisation of this vision, says he is impressed by the considerable progress and the advanced stage the development has reached.

Rightfully, I-Berhad chief executive officer Eu Hong Chew sought the architect of the MSC for advice on what direction the project should take to move forward.

"You are doing the right thing," commented Tun when asked his thoughts on i-City plan to drive growth by focusing on local technopreneurs. "We can no longer rely on foreign direct investments. We have to invest in locals and let them grow the economy," Tun added.

Tun's view was that i-City is a large incubator that will complement Cyberjaya. He added that as a private sector initiative, i-City would be in a better position to come up with innovative approaches to link technopreneurs, venture funds and research bodies.

"The government has a lot of research grants and various incentives but the civil service is not so good at managing them," commented Tun.

When askedt o comment on the success of Cyberjaya, Tun said that Malaysia had to move from low-value added manufacturing to the knowledge sector.

"We were the first, other than Silicon Valley in the US, to start the MSC," he says.

Although the pace of MSC development has slowed down, he believes that Malaysia has done well. "Even in today's economic climate, there are still many knowledge companies coming to Malaysia. The future is in the knowledge economy," added Tun.

The former prime minister, who was involved in driving this ground-breaking MSC concept as a national economic agenda, says the government played a very important role in promoting it to the global community.

i-City, as the first purposely build private sector MSC Cybercentre represents a tuming point in the MSC programme as the private sector is profit-driven and its involvement will accelerate the transformation process.

As the No 1 Technology City, i-City has integrated digital technology into the fabric of its property development. According to Eu, the whole i-City is a Cisco network and the optic fibre network is not only used to enable the offices to operate more cost effectively, but i-City is also using the same infrastructure and technology to make i-City a tourism destination.

Eu said that there is a two-pronged strategy for driving the demand for i-City. Firstly, it is to be the knowledge hub for Shah Alam, and secondly, it is to be a new tourism destination for Selangor. Both of these are also federal as well as state agendas and there has been considerable support by all levels of government.

On i-City'S efforts to create a tourism destination based on its digital light displays, Dr Mahathir says if i-City invests and manages to draw people to the site, the government will have to provide the public transport and external infrastructure.

"When you have an idea and put money into it, you will benefit and so will others," says Dr Mahathir.

"If you look at Cyberjaya and Putrajaya today, you see housing estates and many devlopments along the highway leading there. I am sure the value of the land around i-City has shot up because of the investments made by the developer, which will not only benefit those in i-City but also those in the surrounding areas."

Phase one of i- City's development, comprising offices, is now over 60% occupied, while the next phase, with a gross development value of RM150 million, is expected to kick off later this year, says Eu. It will offer about 300,000 sq ft of office space upon completion in 2013 with construction costs estimated at about RM34 million.

Phase two will support the technopreneur campus that the Selangor state government recently announced it will seriously look into setting up in i-City.

"To attract the knowledge workers, we have to make i-City a vibrant place. Thus i-City's focus is on developing it into a cosmopolitan lifestyle centre where the young would gather. Our tourism component is to strengthen this," said Eu.

This campus will provide services such as an advisory panel, assistance in seed capital, designing the organisational structure, marketing operations and supply chain management.