KLIABC 2018 to generate RM160m in sales
KUALA LUMPUR (October 3rd): THE Kuala Lumpur International Aerospace Business Convention (KLIABC) 2018 is expected to generate up to RM160 million in business transactions, a slight increase from the RM150 million that was achieved during its second edition in 2016.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corp CEO Dr Mohd Shahreen Zainooreen Madros said the expected increase is based on the continuous growth of the aerospace industry and the positive trends reported by the previous conventions.
Figure 1: KLIABC 2018 is a joint programme by Matrade, the Malaysia Industry Association and Advance Business Events of France, and was officiated by MITI Minister Darell Leiking.
“We have seen growing overall sales performances of KLIABC sealed each year, from RM140 million in 2015 to RM150 million in 2016. We expect another RM10 million growth this year,” he told the press at the opening of KLIABC 2018 in KL yesterday.
He said the number of companies, including international players participating in the three-day event has also grown, with 150 firms expected to showcase their products this year compared to 140 exhibitors in 2016.
Mohd Shahreen said the growth is also in line with the expansion of the country’s export market for aerospace products by 53.4% from US$1.33 billion (RM5.53 billion) in 2016 to US$1.99 billion last year.
Meanwhile, Mohd Shahreen said the country’s imports increased 18.7% from US$2.89 billion in 2016 to US$3.34 billion last year.
“Slowly, we are becoming an exporting nation in this industry, and apart from maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), the cloud-up segment (manufacturing) has also grown tremendously,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Aerospace Industry Coordinating Office (NAICO) aims to engage more than 50 smalland- medium enterprises (SMEs) to tap into the lucrative market by 2020, particularly in the manufacturing division.
NAICO CEO Shamsul Kamar Abu Samah said last year, the total aerospace industry generated RM13.5 billion of revenue.
“Of the total, RM6.23 billion, or 48%, was generated by the manufacturing activity. However, we only have 50 companies which contributed to that growth. While in the MRO services, there are up to 150 firms that are sharing the 46% of the slice.
“As such, we will emphasise on the new 30 SMEs to tap into the manufacturing side,” he said.
NAICO is a unit under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
Shamsul Kamar said the agency is currently assisting about 20 companies that are serving the local aerospace industry via the Global Aerospace Manufacturing Industry Programme under SME Corp.
According to him, the current SME players under the MITI programme are expected to generate more than RM30 million of revenue this year.
KLIABC 2018 is a joint programme by Matrade, the Malaysia Industry Association and Advance Business Events of France, and was officiated by MITI Minister Darell Leiking.
Leiking said the industry should look forward to being one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturing and MRO service providers.
“The Asia-Pacific region is expected to receive 16,000 new aircraft by 2035 and during this period, the region would account for 4,000, or 36%, of global deliveries of passengers and freight planes.
“The region is set to become the world’s largest air travel market. So, we should also strive together to have among the world’s largest aircraft manufacturing and MRO industries too,” he said.
The government has set a target to generate an annual revenue of US$14.3 billion for the industry in Malaysia’s second Aerospace Blueprint 2015-2030, with more than 32,000 high-income job creations.
[Source: “KLIABC 2018 to generate RM160m in sales” published by The Malaysian Reserve]Photo Credits: The Malaysian Reserve
