Malaysia aims to expand its aerospace industry into drone manufacturing and bio-sourced materials in the next 5 years
by RAHIMI YUNUS / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL
MALAYSIA’S aerospace industry is expected to return to its pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels of RM16 billion in revenue starting next year.
National Aerospace Industry Coordinating Office head Shamsul Kamar Abu Samah said the country targets to attract new work packages for Tiers 1 and 2, original equipment manufacturing suppliers involving new aircraft development including business and small jets.
In the longer-term, he said Malaysia wants to reinforce the capability of small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and training segments to be more competitive globally.
“We are optimistic to bring in new work packages in the next one or two years as we strengthen our ecosystem.
“Our strategy is to increase localisation in manufacturing and develop our own products to increase exports,” Shamsul Kamar said at the launch of Selangor Aviation Show 2021, organised by Invest Selangor Bhd in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He added that Malaysia is looking to expand its aerospace industry into drone manufacturing and bio-sourced materials in the next five years.
Shamsul Kamar said the local aerospace industry is forecast to record a decline between 20% and 30% in revenue in 2020 due to the Covid-19 impact.
On a separate matter, Selangor state senior executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim said the state government had proposed to turn the current Subang Skypark into a dedicated private jet terminal and build a new terminal as a replacement.
However, he said the proposal, which was made two years ago, failed to get the attention of the federal government.
“We were unable to get a positive response from the federal government, which is disappointing.
“We should be far-sighted to look into making Selangor, especially Subang Airport, to be a business jet hub.”
Teng said Subang has the potential to compete with the Seletar Airport in Singapore for business aviation facilities and the proposal which the state had put forward had included input from the industry players.
He said the land around Subang mostly belongs to the federal government, owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, while some areas are under Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd as the leaseholder.
Invest Selangor via its dedicated aerospace division S-DAICO will be organising the aviation show from Aug 12-14, 2021, at the Subang SkyPark Regional Aviation Centre.
Themed “Selangor, the Asean Business and General Aviation Hub”, the state’s initiative is targeted to attract at least 5,000 visitors and 30 local and international exhibitors.
Selangor, which has been recognised as the main hub of the country’s aerospace and aviation industry, houses over 62% of the total aerospace companies and 20 higher learning institutions related to the industry.
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