KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (NNN-Bernama) — Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc (TAI) is keen to join hands and develop Malaysia’s aerospace industry by bringing its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) expertise into the country.
President and chief executive officer Professor Temel Kotil said the Ankara based-company is planning to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV) company with local partners, which would then make it the nation’s first OEM company.
He said being a major player in the global electrical and electronics chain with an immense amount of talents, Malaysia should be able to produce its own aircraft, helicopter or even unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
“Malaysia is only focusing on the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), aerostructure and making parts for aircraft manufacturers. You must go beyond that.
“The government is very keen to build its own (OEM) industry and to have Malaysia-owned products which are designed, built and sold from Malaysia.
“We want to be part of it, help shorten the time to reach the target. It had cost us 20 years, so we do not want Malaysia to spend another 20 years (to do the same thing),” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Defence Service Asia (DSA) 2022 here Wednesday.
The biennial DSA and the held simultaneously National Security Conference (NATSEC) conclude Thursday at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), here.
Temel said TAI, which recently opened its Asia-Pacific office in Cyberjaya, planned to have an OEM presence in Malaysia next year and discussions with several local companies have been taking place.
He said the OEM partnership would include collaboration in the serial production of the T625 Gokbey indigenous helicopter in Malaysia, the first production outside Turkey that would help serve the Asia market.
“We want to make Malaysia a hub… I’m observing that Malaysia is the right place to design and build. The country is capable,” he said.
The new generation, twin-engine, six-tonne class multi-role Gokbey helicopter is developed and configured to meet the requirements of multi-propose operations such as cargo, VIP transportation, emergency medical services, offshore, and research and rescue with large cabin space.
Gokbey’s aerodynamics is designed to provide low vibration, minimum noise, efficient fuel consumption, better range and endurance in response to the higher mission flexibility in this class.
TAI is the largest defence and aerospace firm in Turkey, focusing on indigenous product development. The company aims to be one of the world’s top 10 firms in the industry by 2028 with US$10 billion in revenue.
— NNN-BERNAMA
