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City
Profile
Kuala
Lumpur, the capital, is Malaysia's undisputed
business and financial centre. All important
government agencies and all principal financial
institutions have their headquarters there.
The
government has targeted incentives at a
number of economic sectors.
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Country
Rankings
Malaysia
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| Ease
of Doing Business World Bank '05 |
21
of 155
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High*
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Corruption
Perception
Transparency International '05 |
39
of 159
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High
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Growth
Competitiveness
World Economic Forum '05 |
24
of 117
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High
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| National
Literacy |
88.9%
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High
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GDP
Growth
(2004 est.) |
7.1%
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High
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For
High-tech industries, for example, the Multimedia
Super Corridor (MSC) has been a key conduit for
foreign investments and in raising the standard
of global competition for its local information
and communication technology industry.
According
to the Economist Intelligence Unit the plan has
mobilized at least US$2bn for construction projects
alone, including the Kuala Lumpur City Centre,
whose first phase was completed in 1998 with the
construction of two of the world’s tallest
buildings (the Petronas Towers) and several other
facilities.
These
include Putrajaya, Malaysia’s new electronic
government administrative centre (the first phase
is now complete and its final completion is set
for 2015–20), and Cyberjaya, a M$2bn development
of “smart” buildings to house information-technology
enterprises in suburban Sepang (about 64 km south
of Kuala Lumpur).
Besides
these development projects, the MSC includes the
M$9bn Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which
opened in 1998. An express railway links
Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Lumpur International Airport
(KLIA).
Highlighting
Malaysia as a world leader in Islamic banking,
the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) was
established in Kuala Lumpur in November 2002.
This multilateral institution aims to design common
regulatory standards and financial instruments
for the still-disparate field of global Islamic
banking.
Rentals
for office space in Kuala Lumpur were reportedly
among the lowest in the region, a survey by the
Asia-Pacific Real Estate Congress 2005 revealed.
Results of the survey which was released in Osaka,
Japan, placed the average rental for office space
in KL at US$1.05 (RM3.96) per square foot. This
makes the city one of the most competitive cities
in the Asia-Pacific region to do business in for
2004.
Source:
Population:
2004 or latest: http://www.citypopulation.de;
GDP Data: 2004 CIA Fact Book estimate; Literacy:
UN estimate
*
Country Ranking Codes: A relative color coding
of where the country falls compared to the 20
other Muslim countries represented in this list.
Hgh/Green=Top 3rd; Med/Yellow=Mid 3rd; Low/Orange=Bottom
rd
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