IN the early seventies, a number of multinational companies (MNCs) converged on land near the Penang airport and built warehouses to assemble electronic components. It was the beginning of Malaysia's electronic industry.
Forty years later, the landscape is remarkably different. The Bayan Lepas Industrial Estate is the hub of Malaysia's electronics industry. Modern factories, mostly owned by MNCs, dot the expanse of flat land that lie north of the airport. Here, companies make electronic devices and components for the global market.