DAVOS, Jan 24 (Bernama) -- Google Inc, the Internet search engine giant, has shown interest to invest in Malaysia, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis.
He said further discussions would be held with the US company on the matter.
Google's search utility and ease of use have made it one of the world's best known brands. As a business, Google generates revenue by providing advertisers with cost-effective online advertising.
In Asia, Google has offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
Jamaludin, who is here for the World Economic Forum (WEF), said the country's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was now a community of almost 2,000 companies and more than 40,00 knowledge workers.
He said the community was not confined to Cyberjaya, the country's information and communications technology (ICT) hub, but also extended to other locations provided for under the MSC's area of coverage.
Jamaludin said Malaysia would host the 16th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in Kuala Lumpur from May 18 to 22.
He said Malaysia would take the opportunity to promote the WCIT at this year's WEF here as it would be the first Southeast Asian country to host the event.
The WCIT, which has been touted as the "Olympics of ICT", is expected to attract more than 2,500 delegates from more than 80 countries.
It is the flagship event of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa), a consortium of 173 international ICT organisations whose members account for more than 90 percent of the global ICT market.
Jamaludin said innovation, the theme at this year's WEF, had always been advocated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who wanted the country to progress further in the next 50 years just as it has done so in the last 50 years.
He said the Prime Minister had always stressed that Malaysia could not always depend on the success factors that had brought progress in the last 50 years.
Jamaludin said Malaysia could not always rely on the export of primary commodities in the future.
Future exports would have to be more innovative and backed by research and development, he said.
The Prime Minister, he added, had also stressed on the development of biotechnology and that Malaysia could not afford to be left behind in this field.
Jamaludin said the pursuit of knowledge among the young in Malaysia was an important item in the nation's development agenda, adding that the young in the country now had the benefit of a knowledge-based idol in Malaysia's first astronaut, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor.
"This is a good sign for Malaysians," he said.
-- BERNAMA
