"He wanted Malaysia to be an advanced high-tech country where the majority of Malaysians would find employment in technology-related jobs before the year 2020," A. Selvaraj, a secretary to the deputy minister of works and services told the EE Times.
Malaysia is one of the world's largest disk drive manufacturers and has a strong presence in Southeast Asia for auto parts, electrical and OEM components manufacturing and assembly. Mahathir guided investment into active and passive semiconductors during his 22-year tenure as prime minister.
Initial strengths in packaging and assembly were developed into higher value-added industry such as wafer fabrication and chip design. The report cited two examples, First Silicon and Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
First Silicon, a semi-conductor foundry with a 200-mm wafer fab, was opened two years ago with a US$1 billion investment from the Sarawak state government. A financial consultant at Evergreen Resource Investments, Malaysia, cited Mahathir's behind-the-scenes support for the project.
Malaysia has come far from the currency crisis when critics said the IMF-opposed ringgit-pegging would drive away international investment and harm Malaysia's long term prospects. Its 2003 GDP is estimated to be around 5.5 to 6 per cent, higher than tech-heavy neighbor Singapore.
Lee Cheng Seng, a former Dell Computer procurement officer in Malaysia told the EE Times that he believed the 78-year-old Mahathir had "singlehandedly stopped the vicious cycle of currency hedging on the ringgit and proved to companies like Intel and Dell why Malaysia is an ideal manufacturing and logistics center in Asia."
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