KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) aims to see at least l,000 MSC status companies by 2003 with sales values of RM6.5 billion, based on the good interest from foreign companies recently, Deputy Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Tan Chai Ho, said yesterday.

Cyberjaya has good infrastructure and among the best in Asean countries, he told reporters after a partnership agreement signing here yesterday between NTT MSC Sdn Bhd and Fujitsu Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

He said that there were currently 776 MSC­status companies, including 53 international companies with investment projects of RM 10 billion. Tan said that spending on information tech­nology (IT) in the country has also showed an increase of 4.8 percent between 1995 and 2001. This continued to be strong, fuelled by the emergence of a new class of technology savvy customers, he said.

Meanwhile, under the agreement signed today between NTT MSC and Fujitsu Malaysia, NTT MSC will provide the infra­structure and network for data housing and web hosting through its new state-of-the-art Arcnet Internet Data Centre in Cyberjaya while Fujitsu Malaysia will manage, integrate and maintain the system's service using its InfraCare service.

NTT MSC's president, Honda Hiromitsu, said with the partnership customers would be able to reduce risks and lower their investment costs by using their new Internet Data Centre (IDC) business model.

Honda also said that the partnership will help increase the company's number of cus­tomers to 100 in the next six to 12 months from the current 40 customers using their IDC in Cyberjaya.