KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has kicked off the development of two national roadmaps for the low altitude economy (LAE) and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) digitalisation, as it seeks to capture emerging aerospace opportunities while modernising one of its established industry pillars.
The studies, led by the National Aerospace Industry Corporation Malaysia (Naico Malaysia) under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti), are expected to be completed by the end of this year, with implementation set to begin next year.
Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Sim Tze Tzin, who launched the roadmap development at a ceremony in Miti, said the initiative was aimed at positioning Malaysia in areas of the aerospace value chain where it could build long-term competitive advantages.
“This is not merely a planning exercise. It is a deliberate move to ensure that Malaysia positions itself early and decisively, in segments of the aerospace value chain where genuine long-term competitive advantage can still be built,” he said at the kick-off of the Malaysian Aerospace Roadmap Development for LAE and (MRO) digitalisation.
The two roadmaps support the Malaysian Aerospace Industry Blueprint 2030 (MAIB2030), the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP2030) and the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK-13).
The LAE roadmap will examine how Malaysia can build capabilities across technology, infrastructure, investment, talent and commercialisation in areas such as unmanned aircraft systems, drones and urban air mobility.
It will also cover the development of the proposed Unmanned Valley ecosystem and complement the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia’s work on airspace regulation under the National Low Altitude Economy Policy Framework.
Sim said Malaysia was moving early to position itself in what he described as a new frontier for the aerospace industry.
“The low altitude economy is very new. We want to capture the future trend. We don’t want to be left behind,” he said.
Under the Malaysia Drone Technology Action Plan 2022–2030, the drone and unmanned aerial vehicle ecosystem is projected to contribute RM50.71 billion to Malaysia’s gross domestic product and create 100,000 high-skilled jobs by 2030.
Meanwhile, the MRO Digitalisation Roadmap will assess the industry’s technology and digital readiness and chart a phased path for the adoption of predictive maintenance, real-time asset monitoring, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, automation and robotics.
Naico Malaysia CEO Dr Shamsul Kamar Abu Samah said the initiative was necessary as many local MRO players continued to rely largely on manual and conventional workflows.
“If we are honest with ourselves, many of our local players are still running on largely manual, conventional workflows.
“In a market that is moving fast forward, data and automation – that gap costs us in turnaround time, operational overhead and, ultimately, competitiveness,” he said.
Malaysia’s MRO sector generated RM13 billion in revenue in 2025, accounting for about 40% of the country’s aerospace industry revenue.
The roadmap supports the MAIB2030 target of increasing Malaysia’s share of the global MRO market to 5% by 2030.
Shamsul Kamar said Naico would conduct a National Technology and Digital Readiness Assessment to determine where Malaysian MRO companies currently stand and identify a realistic, phased path for the sector’s digital transition.
“Technology adoption takes real capital. This study also looks at financing, designing public-private partnership models, and a joint financing framework so our companies, especially SMEs, can make this transition without being priced out of the future,” he said.
Malaysia’s aerospace industry generated RM32.5 billion in revenue in 2025 across more than 250 companies.
Following the launch, Naico held an industry engagement session involving operators, manufacturers, service providers, technology companies, financiers and talent developers, whose input will help shape the roadmaps’ strategies and implementation plans.
Together, the two roadmaps are intended to help future-proof Malaysia’s aerospace supply chain, strengthen its technology and talent capabilities, and position the country to capture a larger share of emerging and higher-value aerospace activities.
