thirds of the investments will be financed by the private sector, while the remainder will be government-funded, partly through loans and incentive packages to entrepreneurs in the four states of Kedah, Perak, Perlis and Penang, Abdullah said. The plan's highlights include helping farmers to form cooperatives to reduce costs and learn innovative harvesting techniques, enabling them to work on contract for private companies and boost their output. The local electrical and electronics manufacturing industry will be given incentives to employ more people and residents will be encouraged to start their own small scale plants. Some residents will be educated in a government-backed Microelectronics Excellence Center that will be established to offer training and research facilities under the plan. New hotels and better transportation infrastructure are expected be built to boost tourism. The four northwestern states receive 4.8 million tourists each year, but 85 percent are visitors from other parts of Malaysia with low budgets, Abdullah said.
