Cyberjaya (a portmanteau of cyber and Putrajaya) is a city with a science park as its core that forms a key part of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia. It is located in Sepang District, Selangor. Cyberjaya is adjacent to, and developed along with Putrajaya, Malaysia’s government seat. This city aspires to be known as the Silicon Valley of Malaysia.
The official opening ceremony for Cyberjaya was held on 17 May 1997 by the Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.
Many multinational companies and data centres are located in the city.
Until 1975, what is today Cyberjaya, Putrajaya and Dengkil were under the administration of Hulu Langat (Kajang) district. On the site of today’s Cyberjaya once stood an estate, Prang Besar (Great War).
The idea of an IT-themed city, Cyberjaya, arose out of a study by management consultancy McKinsey for the Multimedia Super Corridor commissioned by the Federal Government of Malaysia in 1995. The implementation agency was the Town & Country Planning Department of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The catalyst is the agreement by NTT in 1996 to site an R&D centre at a site to the west of the new Malaysian administration centre, Putrajaya.
Multimedia Development Corporation (then known as MDC), the agency overseeing the implementation of the MSC was located in Cyberjaya to oversee the creation. The real estate implementation was privatised to Cyberview Sdn Bhd (Cyberview) in early 1997. At the time, Cyberview was set up a joint-venture comprising entities such as Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd (SHSB), Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), Golden Hope, MDeC, Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) and Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB), representative of the Selangor Government. SHSB, a consortium comprising Renong, Landmarks, MKLand and Country Heights, was asked to take the lead regarding the development. Federal government-linked companies Telekom Malaysia and Tenaga Nasional were conscripted to provide the telecommunication and power supply infrastructure. The ambitious plan was to develop the first phase, comprising 1,430 hectares by 2006, with the remaining 1,460 hectares to be developed after the year 2011. The engineering management consultant, Pengurusan Lebuhraya Bhd (now acquired by Opus International Malaysia) was appointed to manage the construction of utilities and infrastructure, overseeing major construction firms of Peremba and United Engineers Malaysia (UEM).
However, due to the late 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the undertaking was deemed no longer viable and necessitated the Government taking over of the 55% and 15% stake in Cyberview shares held by SHSB and NTT respectively via the Ministry of Finance Inc. (MOF Inc.). The transaction gave MOF Inc a 70% stake, and Cyberview has remained a government-owned company ever since. Cyberview then entered into an agreement with SHSB with shareholders comprising Country Heights Holdings Berhad (CHHB), Landmarks, Menara Embun (an MKLand Controlled Company) and Renong (now UEM World) with equal shares of 25%; granting SHSB the right to develop Cyberjaya as the master developer, while Cyberview became the landowner. In 2004, CHHB and Landmarks sold their equity interest in SHSB to MKLand-controlled companies, namely Modern Eden (12.5%), Impressive Circuits (12.5%) and Virtual Path (25%), resulting in MKLand-controlled companies becoming the majority shareholder of SHSB.
Cyberview’s role grew to include implementing various development and government initiatives, while SHSB carried on its role as the master developer. In addition to this, Cyberview was also tasked to undertake citywide maintenance and spearhead investor interface and community-centric programmes in Cyberjaya.
In 2014, efforts went underway to reposition Cyberjaya from Malaysia’s first cybercity to a global technology hub.