Japan, Malaysia eye cooperation in aircraft production

Illustrative image (Source: Kyodo)

Japan aims to sign an agreement with Malaysia this summer, seeking to strengthen ties with Malaysia and help small-and-medium-sized Japanese parts makers expand their business in Asia's growing commercial aircraft market.

The initiative comes as the Japanese government seeks to expand the production value of the country's aircraft industry to 3 trillion JPY (27 billion USD) in 2030 from 1.8 trillion JPY (16.2 billion USD) in 2018 by stepping up cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.

Malaysia has been promoting the aircraft industry, and major US aircraft parts maker Spirit AeroSystems Inc. and others have their production bases in the country.

Japanese parts makers have already entered Malaysia, including Imai Aero-Equipment Mfg. Co., Asahi Aero Group Inc. and Wada Aircraft Technology Co.

Worldwide, the commercial aircraft market is expected to grow over the next 20 years, with demand for some 40,000 planes expected, around 40 percent of which will be in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Japanese industry ministry./.

VNA