Aerospace industry captured RM105m investments in 2021, says MITI
16 Aug 2022
Malaysia’s aerospace industry accumulated RM104.7 million worth of investments and a total trade of RM13.84 billion last year.
Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said despite the challenging economic landscape and operating environment for the past two years, the country’s aerospace industry has remained competitive and resilient.
He added that Malaysian companies secured a further RM572.6 million worth of business deals in last month’s Farnborough International Airshow 2022.
He also noted that RM2 billion worth of manufacturing work packages and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) business has been awarded to the local aerospace industry during the pandemic.
“This includes RM600 million worth of MRO expansion projects which are expected to be implemented by the fourth quarter of 2022 (4Q22),” he said during the opening ceremony of Malaysia Aerospace Summit 2022 (MyAERO’22) in Kuala Lumpur today.
According to Mohamed Azmin, Malaysia’s trade and investment performance has been on an upward trajectory and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is confident the momentum will stay on course.
He said nonetheless, the country should be vigilant of the headwinds and downside risks due to external global developments such as inflation, disruptions to global supply chain and logistics as well as uncertainties arising from geopolitical tensions.
In this, he said his ministry will focus on three broad areas — trade and sustainable development, supply chain resiliency and human capital development — in terms of policy direction and strategic initiatives in the near term.
“MITI will do its utmost to accelerate the growth of the aerospace industry with the introduction of various initiatives currently being implemented under the 12th Malaysia Plan, including enhancing high-skilled employment and propelling economic growth that will be in coherence with the three focus areas,” he said.
Additionally, Mohamed Azmin also noted that under the Malaysian Aerospace Industry Blueprint, Malaysia aims to become South-East Asia’s top aerospace nation by 2030, thus, emerging as an integral part of the global aerospace supply chain.
He said the blueprint targets a total revenue of RM55.2 billion and the creation of upwards of 32,000 high-income jobs.
The senior minister also added that MITI has established the formation of the Sustainable Aviation Energy Task Force, which will provide policy recommendations and coordinate public-private partnership national projects to achieve the said target.
He said national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd has agreed to join on this journey, as this includes the production of sustainable aviation fuel in Malaysia.
On the strong ramp-up requirements of Airbus SE and Boeing Co, Mohamed Azmin highlighted that it is a great opportunity for the country’s supply chain to achieve new levels of competitiveness.
He also said it is imperative to keep the supply chains resilient, open and dynamic moving forward.
“As our Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies are growing from strength to strength, I urge the lower-tier suppliers to meet the complete value chain outsource requirements to secure long-term sustainability.
“I am encouraged to hear that companies like Curge Advance Sdn Bhd and Micron Concept Engineering Sdn Bhd are rising to this challenge and encourage more to do so.
“MITI will continue engaging with the original equipment manufacturers to encourage workflow to Malaysia and further boost the industry,” he noted.
MyAERO’22 is organised by the National Aerospace Industry Coordination Office, MITI in collaboration with the Social Security Organisation, Institution of Engineers Malaysia and Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre.
The summit featured aerospace exhibition, career fair and industry seminar focusing on Digital Transformation and Innovation towards a Sustainable Aerospace Ecosystem.
The summit also gathered stakeholders in the aerospace industry highlighting the potential and current capabilities of the Malaysian aerospace industry ecosystem and providing the platform for subject matter experts to share and promote industry competency development.
Source: The Malaysian Reserve
