KUALA LUMPUR: The manufacture and export of Malaysian-made vehicle parts and components deserve equal attention as vehicle production and introduction of new models, says Minister of International and Industry Datuk Darell Leiking.
He said this would ensure that the manufacture and export of Malaysian-made vehicle parts and components grow in parallel with top-tier vehicle production.
“The manufacturing of vehicle parts and components is of equal importance to the success of the automotive industry, as it creates more business and career opportunities for Malaysians in the high-value automotive chain.
“They are essentially the elements that define the final product,” he said in a statement today.
He said the diversity of manufacturing processes, multiplicity of specialisation and varying levels of complexity compared to vehicle assembly make parts and components a key target sector to spur local competencies in science, engineering and technology adoption, particularly among Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Darell also emphasised the importance of continuous and holistic growth in the expansion of capacities and capabilities of Malaysian automotive manufacturers as the global markets shift towards new automotive and mobility products and ownership models.
“While MITI is working hard to address concerns among certain quarters of the industry on our readiness to develop high-technology products such as autonomous technology, we cannot deny that such disruption will eventually render our current capabilities obsolete in the future.
“The only way forward is a fully concerted effort from the industry, government and research sectors to devise new solutions to ensure we reach the appropriate levels of compliance to global market demand,” he said.
Meanwhile, Darell urged businesses to take part in the numerous government programmes to accelerate their capabilities in upstream activities such as product and process design, to ensure they optimise the value derived from the trade in and export of parts and components.
“The government has strengthened the capacities of Malaysian parts and components suppliers, particularly in implementing Lean Production Systems (LPS) practices within most production lines of the local automotive chain, through government programmes formulated by the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii),” he said.
He said automotive businesses also now have wider access to training and facilities catering to upstream automotive development processes, such as styling, engineering design, design validation, emissions testing as well as virtual and augmented reality tools, which are accessible through centres of excellence such as the National Emission Test Centre (NETC) and the MARii Design Centre.
Malaysia’s parts and components sector reported total exports of RM6.76 billion in the first half of 2019, achieving 52% of its full-year target of RM13 billion set at the beginning of the year.
The sector has shown tremendous growth in exports in the last five years, growing from RM4.7 billion in 2014 to RM12.1 billion in 2018. — Bernama
