Reuters Business Traveler

Kuala Lumpur – Overview

Chinese tin prospectors settled in the mid-19th century on the convergence of the Klang and Gombak rivers — Kuala Lumpur means “muddy confluence”. Today, as one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the region, Malaysia’s capital has embraced futuristic architectural design where needle-thin, 21st-century towers have sprouted up among the faded buildings of the city’s colonial past.

With a population of 1.6 million, Kuala Lumpur has long outgrown its colonial core. Greater Kuala Lumpur, including Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam to the west, covers a huge area. Most foreign visitors however are unlikely to travel much beyond the ‘Golden Triangle’, an upmarket area of luxury hotels, restaurants and shopping centres.

The city’s recent rapid growth has seen the construction of huge prestige projects and a considerable improvement in facilities and services for international business travellers. Thirty kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur, the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is a spread of tech parks, convention centres, Malay towns and botanical gardens developed around the twin cities of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya.

Back in the city proper, the spectacular Petronas Towers have helped inspire a new pride that Malaysians have for their capital that is reflected in the city’s cosmopolitan populace, the growing economy and a wave of creativity in the expanding food and nightlife scene. In Kuala Lumpur, the passion for food is nothing new: with its populace of Malay, Indian and Chinese, Malaysians love for nasi lemak, laksa and spicy Indian curries is embraced as much by the younger generation as the old.

-Money: Ringgit (MYR; RM). Notes are in denominations of RM100, 50, 10, 5, 2 and 1. Coins are in denominations of 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 sen. The Ringgit is often referred to as the Malaysian Dollar.

American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted.