The ambitious plan does not come cheap. Still, it is an investment to ensure the country's long-term competitiveness. Perhaps even its survival. That may be overstating the case. But manufacturing cannot be Malaysia's main engine for growth in the next century.
Labor costs are already cheaper in most neighboring countries.
And competition will only get stiffer as trade barriers come down. Besides, Malaysia's oil and gas reserves will only last another 15 to 20 years. Analysts see the MSC as a strategic concept to move the country into an information-based economy. Planners know it. As in Silicon Valley, he says, it is the talent that will create the excitement and attract the venture capitalists.