KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 -- For close to three decades, Putrajaya has attempted to position Cyberjaya in Selangor as its own "Silicon Valley" as part of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) special economic zone and business district.

With Cyberjaya located nearly 40km away south of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya has now seemingly changed its tack in attempting to court global startups by establishing the new Startup Hub smack in the middle of the capital instead: around KL Sentral and Bangsar South.

In his keynote address during the KL20 Summit last month, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli announced the hub as part of the Innovation Belt - which he said is aiming to congregate ecosystem players in geographical clusters, with a critical mass of startups...