KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor rallies fellow states to produce a regional aerospace powerhouse and concentrate on international competition rather than interstate competition.
Selangor Investment, Industry, Commerce and Small and Medium Enterprises senior executive councilor Datuk Teng Chang Khim (pix) said in this regard, Invest Selangor was ready to help other states.
âSelangor has 65 per cent of Malaysiaâs aerospace industry. We can offer a lot of help because the aerospace industry has four tiers. In Malaysia, most of tier 1, the highest tier, is in Selangor and we need also tier 2 and 3 to actually create an ecosystem,â he told Bernama today.
He was a guest speaker on Bernama TV – The Nation, to dwell on the topic: âBuilding Selangor as the regionâs investment hub and sustaining investorsâ confidence amidst the current pandemicâ.
âFrom what I see, the other states are trying to compete with Selangor for tier 1. I deem it as an unnecessary competition in terms of skilled workers. All the skilled workers prefer to come to Selangor and most of them are here (in Selangor).
âEven if they manage to get tier 1 to the state, they might not be able to get the workers as we already have the ecosystem here. For certain tier 2 or 3, and even tier 4, we can actually share with them (other states), so that whole Malaysia can become an ecosystem, rather than (just) Selangor,â he said.
Teng said tier 1 or 2 companies should be allowed to come to Selangor, and other states may focus on tier 3 and tier 4, so the whole ecosystem could be spread out rather than concentrate in Selangor.
âIf other states obtain tier 1, they might be isolated and not be actually good for long term development of the industry in the particular states,â he said, adding that data centre was also another example of interstate competition.
âSince Selangor has the (data centre) strength with Cyberjaya, thus it is suitable as a centre, so why other states should compete in this?â he said.
He said other states could look at where the competitive advantages are, the benefits for collaboration, and focus external competition outside Malaysia.
On Selangor being the regional economic hub, he said the state has the facilities and expertise.
âWhat we need to do now is to benchmark, and the best benchmark around the region would be Singapore, and see how they have become so efficient, from a small country that has developed themselves,â he said.
He said Malaysia is not lacking in land and population but is behind Singapore because of lack of efficiency.
âWe need to address the issue by putting more emphasis on digitalisation,â he said. -Bernama
