Materia Medica Malaysiana

theedgedaily.com:BioValley gets over RM100 mln investments


The government has lured over RM100 million of investments from three companies to conduct research and manufacturing activities in Malaysia's biotechnology hub, BioValley.

Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding said the three companies were a Dutch entity, a Malaysia-China joint venture and a local company.

The companies would be involved in the neutraceutical and animal feeds production, he told reporters after launching the National Conference on Biotechnology & Life Sciences 2003 on July 21.

Neutraceutical, which comes from the combination of the words "nutritional" and "pharmaceutical," refers to food that acts as medicines.

Law said the government was still negotiating with three other companies to invest in the BioValley project in its efforts to attract more investors in biotechnology.

"We are looking at the incentives. We will work out a package with MIDA (Malaysian Industrial Development Authority)," he said. On top of its rich biodiversity, Malaysia also offered good infrastructure and living standards, Law said.

In his speech earlier, the minister said Malaysia hoped to attract 150 biotech companies and pull in US$10.5 billion in investments over the next decade in its biotechnology hub.

BioValley Malaysia - located on a 200ha site south of Cyberjaya - is expected to be ready by 2006. Besides this, designated areas in Penang, Sabah, Sawarak, Malacca and Johor have also been classified as BioValley satellites.