KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is looking at showcasing its home-grown companies at the global aerospace arena during the International Paris Air Show 2017.
The delegates, led by National Aerospace Industry Coordinating Office (NAICO), will promote their products and services at the ‘Malaysia Chalet’ during the event.
Held from June 19 to 25 in Paris, the event is expected to see more than 149,000 people visiting 30 national pavillions and 330 business chalets.
NAICO head Shamsul Kamar Abu Samah said Malaysia’s participation aims to highlight the country’s world-class infrastructure and initiatives to increase trade in the aerospace industry.
“We would like to expand our engagements with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) such as Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier in order for us to highlight and develop our capabilities.
“The Malaysia chalet is a collaborative effort between NAICO and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation (SME Corp) as well as other aerospace industry players.
“The players include Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), UMW M&E Sdn Bhd, UMW Land Sdn Bhd, Invest Selangor, Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC) as well as 10 SMEs from the EPP8: Developing SMEs in the global manufacturing industry programme,” he told a press conference at Menara MITI here today.
Exchange of several Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Agreements, Shamsul said, will take place during the event, apart from various engagement activities with international industry players.
“These MoUs and MoAs are part of the Malaysian Aerospace Industry Blueprint 2030 to promote industry collaboration.
“We will also engage with French and Japanese companies which include OEMs, tier 1 companies as well as global SMEs,” he said adding that they will also engage with counterparts from Japan, China, Mexico and Morocco.
Unlike Malaysia’s participation in other air shows where the delegates had promoted the country as a hub for investors to conduct their business activities in Southeast Asia, Shamsul said Malaysian delegates at the Paris air show have products and services to offer.
“We have a very strong representation from SMEs so we do feel that the products that we have now are better and stronger,” he added.
The Malaysian aerospace industry saw a strong growth last year as exports of local products - mainly parts and components - recorded a significant increase of 32.6 per cent with a value of RM5.53 billion compared with RM4.17 billion in 2015.