Al Jazeeras new English-language news channel, Al Jazeera International, will establish its Asian base in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The new Qatar-based satellite channel, to be launched next year, will have regional hubs in London and Washington, as well as its Kuala Lumpur base and headquarters in Doha.
The managing director of Al Jazeera International, Nigel Parsons, said that Kuala Lumpur had been chosen as the Asian hub for purely operational reasons: We felt Kuala Lumpur best met our requirements in terms of its geographical location, infrastructure, local labour pool and cost base.
Besides its Arabic-language and English-language news channels, Aljazeera is already broadcasting an Arabic-language sports channel under the Aljazeera banner and intends to launch a children’s channel and a documentary channel during 2005.