The partnership is the 1st step for Malaysia and Indonesia to synergise and build teamwork to leverage their respective strengths and expertise

by ANIS HAZIM / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

LEMBAGA Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) has signed a memorandum of collaboration (MoC) with Indonesia-based defence company PT Pindad to develop businesses for the local defence industry.

The collaboration is the first step for Malaysia and Indonesia to synergise and build collaboration to leverage their respective strengths and expertise in the defence industry

“We have opened up a discussion — between both parties — to explore if there are any business opportunities available that can enhance the businesses in Malaysia and Indonesia,” LTAT CEO Datuk Ahmad Nazim Abdul Rahman told a press conference after the signing of the MoC at the Defence Services Asia and National Security Asia 2022 yesterday.

He said Malaysia and Indonesia are targeting to enhance companies related to the defence industry in their respective countries.

“This will be a long-term collaboration — at the moment, we have got a number of companies that we have invested in, and hopefully through this collaboration, we can drive their businesses as well as for the new companies that we will invest in the future,” he said.

Currently, LTAT’s investments in the local defence industry through its investee companies stand at RM244.2 million with a total orderbook of RM11.8 billion.

“We will continue to explore commercially-viable opportunities to further increase our investment in this sector in line with LTAT’s strategic asset allocation framework,” he added.

Apart from investing in defence businesses to generate financial returns for the fund, LTAT has a catalytic role to institutionalise and transform the defence industry into a major contributor to Malaysia’s economy.

In November last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Senior Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein visited Pindad in Bandung, Indonesia, and saw its capabilities as the largest defence company in Indonesia renowned for various high-quality military products.

Notably, Pindad designs and manufactures a wide variety of military products, including small calibre ammunition, weapons, armoured vehicles and some related industrial products, including heavy and industrial equipment products and services as transportation, mining and cybersecurity solutions.