WHEN it comes to developments in industry, Malaysia takes pride in its belief that it will be on a par with most Western nations by the turn of the century.
According to a government plan, it will achieve developed nation status by the year 2020.
In its bid to provide an inviting climate to foreign investors, the country has succeeded in attracting a wide range of overseas manufacturing concerns that now produce more equipment in Malaysia than they do in their home countries.
The bulk of Malaysia's industrial exports come from the electrical and electronics assembly industries, textiles and a handful of resource-based industries.
One area that has seen significant growth has been the hi-tech manufacturing industry. Penang is turning out to be Malaysia's version of Silicon Valley.
Among the big name multinationals that have set up in Penang is Intel, the United States-based microchip maker.
Intel holds the leading share in the the international chip-making business, producing the microprocessors used in the majority of IBM-compatible personal computers worldwide.