Malaysia ready to build planes with Indonesia
Malaysia ready to build planes with Indonesia
LANGKAWI ISLAND, Malaysia (Reuter): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said his country was ready to work with Indonesia on building bigger airplanes, the national Bernama news agency reported.
Mahathir, who opened an international maritime and aerospace show in Malaysia's northern Langkawi island yesterday, said the collaboration was suggested by Indonesia's State Minister of Technology and Research B.J. Habibie.
"Pak (Mr) Habibie has suggested that we have a cooperation. We are studying the matter," Mahathir was quoted as saying by Bernama after viewing exhibits by Indonesian aircraft maker, Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN), at the Langkawi show.
The state-owned IPTN has just produced a prototype of the N- 250 turboprop passenger aircraft with its own design.
Habibie said last month there had already been 204 foreign and domestic orders for the medium-haul plane, costing US$13.5 million each, and commercial production will start in 1998.
IPTN also produces with CASA of Spain the CN-235, a military transport plane.
It also assembles under license French-designed Super Puma, U.S. Bell helicopters and parts for U.S.-designed F-16 fighters and British-developed Rapier missiles.
Malaysia, in contrast, only manufactures the Swiss-created SME MD3-160 light trainer aircraft and Australian-designed Eagle XTS recreational plane.
At the launch of the Langkawi show, Mahathir said he planned to turn Malaysia's fledgling aviation industry into a producer of world-class aircraft components.
But he added after viewing the Indonesian exhibits that Malaysia could do to learn the technology of building bigger aircraft.
"Indonesia's experience in this field suits us very well," he said.
Cooperation
Meanwhile, Malaysian Defense Minister Syed Hamid Albar called for better cooperation among Pacific Rim countries in developing their aerospace and defense industries.
"Bilateral, multilateral cooperation needs to be looked into more seriously among Pacific Rim nations," Syed Hamid said during a speech at the show.
Under such collaboration, each country would share technological expertise and specialize in some aircraft components to achieve economies of scale and optimize resources, Syed Hamid said.
He said such cooperation would help developing countries advance beyond the stage of being "mere buyers of systems and products," which were sold at high prices by the industrialized countries.
Malaysia is reported to be on the lookout for military equipment at the week-long show, which has attracted 588 companies from 35 countries as exhibitors for military hardware, satellite equipment, passenger planes and boats.
The biennial exhibition, the third since 1991, will show a total of 84 military and civilian planes and helicopters, 18 navy vessels and seven mega yachts, officials said.