Malaysia story continues...
 In
an effort to offer further protection to those companies who will be investing
in the MSC project, the Malaysia Telecommunications and Posts Minister
Leo Moggie announced that his government will build the 'soft infrastructure,
the legislation'. In March this year, he will announce the Computer Criminal
Act, the Digital Signature Act, amendments to the Copyright Act, the Telemedicine
Act and the Electronic Government Act, he said during a recent electronic
commerce conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Moggie boasted that "No other country is doing this in such a comprehensive way. We are not constrained by existing laws and regulations, so we can leapfrog over other countries." "The main thrust of the Digital Signature Act is to give certification and authority to certify agencies that recognize digital signatures. It is intended to make sure signatures are safe and secure. Such signatures will be deposited in a repository," Moggie added. Malaysia is the world's largest exporter of semiconductors, and it is the fourth biggest exporters in electronic products with the U.S., topping such countries as Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom etc.
After the U.S. visit, Prime Minister Mohathir continued his roadshow in Japan and met with senior executives of NEC Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and other Japanese electronics companies. Mohathir invited the Japanese to produce multimedia content and education material. Japan's Nippon Telephone and Telegraph has already agreed to work with Telekom Malaysia to build a 10- Gbyte fiber-optic network at a cost of $200 million to link homes, businesses and education institutions in the high tech park. |
© Copyright Ray Van Eng 1997 - 1999. All Rights Reserved.
The
U.S. Department of Commerce recognizes that Southeast Asia which includes
Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brunei
is likely to be the second biggest market (behind Mexico) for U.S. exports
in five years time.