Malaysia Aerospace Industry To Grow By 7 Per Cent This Year - Minister Mustapa

LANGKAWI (Kedah, Malaysia), March 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's aerospace industry is expected to grow by seven per cent this year on robust demand for aircraft from Asian countries, especially China and India. Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mustapa Mohamed, said aerospace manufacturing, a major part of the industry in Malaysia, was expected to contribute 55 per cent to the industry's overall value this year. "The maintenance, repair and overhaul industry's revenue will continue to increase, especially in the engine and engine components segment, with a targeted revenue of US$1.35 billion (RM6 billion). "This growth will create 1,500 highly-skilled job opportunities," he said. Mustapa told reporters this after launching the Malaysian Aerospace Industry Blueprint 2030 progress report here Tuesday. He had also witnessed the exchange of eight memoranda of understanding and memoranda of agreement between various industry players, including foreigners. Among them were DRB-HICOM Bhd's unit, Composite Technology and Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which exchanged documents with various parties, including HICOM University College, on general cooperation in human capital development and product research. Mustapa said many companies in the car and oil and gas sectors had begun venturing into the aerospace industry, indicating that the strong growth in the sector was attracting players from other industries. On investment, Mustapa said, 10 companies, with the potential investment of about RM1 billion, had expressed interests to invest in Malaysia. Last year, nine aerospace projects were approved with investments of RM1.6 billion, of which RM673.9 million were from domestic investors and RM889.4 million were by foreign investors. The investments were expected to generate 1,766 employment opportunities. Malaysia's aerospace industry export last year rose by 32.6 per cent to RM5.53 billion compared with 2015, mainly from aerospace parts and components. Meanwhile, imports of aircraft, raw materials and spares were recorded at RM11.94 billion, mainly contributed by the fleet expansion and replacement of the aviation sector. (US$1 = RM4.42) --BERNAMA