MALAYSIA REMAINS AN IMPORTANT MART FOR US, SAYS ENVOY

SHAH ALAM (Selangor, Malaysia), Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia remains an important market for the United States because of its economic growth and stability, said US Ambassador to Malaysia, Paul W. Jones.

Jones said new companies from the US continued to invest in Malaysia.

"The commitment from American companies remains strong, with a number of
well-known and world class companies having invested in the country," he said at
the 45th anniversary celebration of Abbott Malaysia, a member of leading global
healthcare company based in US.

He said there was a shift in focus with the US concentrating to create more
jobs because of a high level of unemployment .

"The US is recovering from economic recession, but growth in the economy is
not moving as fast as what people would like it to be," he said.

General manager of Abbott International Malaysia, Muru Annamalai, said
Malaysia was an important location for the company in the development of cancer
drug.

"Abbott contributes signficantly to clinical research in Malaysia and that
is where our investment is in Malaysia," he said.

He said the company spent RM4 million (US$1.35 million) a year on education
in Malaysia.

Muru said in terms of rising costs of healthcare in Malaysia, drugs
constituted only a small portion to healthcare costs as a majority of costs came
from operation, hardware and capital.

Abbott is a leading healthcare company in Malaysia, providing
pharmaceutical, nutritional, diagnostic, vascular and diabetes care products.