By Alang Bendahara
SHAH ALAM, July 28 — The Selangor government is actively working to attract big-name aerospace companies to set up base at the soon-to-be-built Selangor International Aero Park (SAP) in Sepang and the existing aerospace hub in Subang.
State executive councillor for investment, trade and industry Dato’ Teng Chang Khim said the aerospace industry is one of the nine focus sectors of the First Selangor Plan (RS-1) and the administration is determined to see it succeed in the region.
“Recently, Malaysia announced that it may purchase 10 Airbus A330neo and lease another 10. So if Airbus is selected, we will woo them to make SAP their maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) centre.
“Dassault Aviation S.A. (Dassault), the second-largest private jet maker in the world, has shifted its operations from Hong Kong to Subang. Also recently, in May, I went to the US to witness the signing of an agreement between Dviation Technics Sdn Bhd and Honda Jet to set up their MRO facility in Subang.
“SIA Engineering, the MRO unit of Singapore Airlines, has also chosen Subang. We also set up the Drone Centre of Excellence in Subang which is the first in Asia. So this shows that Subang continues to focus on general and business aviation,” he said during the Selangor State Legislative Assembly here today.
Teng said this to answer a query from Lembah Jaya state assemblyman Haniza Mohamad Talha on the status of the aerospace industry as well as supplementary questions from state assemblymen Syamsul Firdaus Mohamed Supri (Taman Medan) and Dato’ Mohd Imran Tamrin (Sungai Panjang).
He said the latest RS-1 plan, along with the existing Selangor Aerospace Action Plan 2020–2030 managed by the Selangor Darul Ehsan Aerospace Industry Coordination Office (S-Daico), will ensure that the sector will be given focus, especially since 63 per cent of the country’s aerospace companies and aerospace-related companies are already based in Selangor.
“We are looking deeper into initiatives and plans needed to stimulate the aerospace industry as the country enters the transition phase of Covid-19,” he said.
The state has already begun to reskill technicians and pilots to ensure that they get fit-to-work status. It has also closed the demand and employment gap for MRO workers through the Industrial Skills Framework (IndSF) and through finding alternatives for the supply chain in the industry.
On May 18, 2020, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said the main scope of the aerospace industry is maintenance, repairs, manufacturing, integration systems, engineering, design and training.
By 2030, aerospace manufacturing activity in Malaysia is estimated to generate RM21.2 billion in revenue, repairs and maintenance are expected to bring in RM20.4 billion, and engineering and design to bring in RM13.6 billion.
