The Asian crisis that began in 1997, coupled with a political crisis when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad sacked his popular deputy Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, has contributed to a scaling back of Malaysia's high-tech plans. There is also considerable competition within Asia. In late July, IBM chose Sydney over Singapore for its Asia Pacific e-Business Innovation Center. IBM said it chose Sydney for its pool of graduates and experienced professionals in technology and marketing. In the end, multinational companies are going to make their decisions based on a variety of factors, and incentives may be only a small part.
People sometimes overplay the role of specific incentives.
What is important is what countries have to offer, and if you look at countries with a lot of foreign direct investment, they are secure, politically stable and they have a transparent government. Chen is a staff reporter in The Wall Street Journal's Singapore bureau.