NanoMalaysia sees RM1.35b revenue

KUALA LUMPUR: NanoMalaysia Bhd expects to generate RM1.35 billion from five more projects related to the development of graphene products, bringing the graphene technology sector’s total future revenue to RM2.7 billion this year.

Chief executive officer Dr Rezal Khairi Ahmad said under the National Graphene Action Plan 2020 (NGP), this field was seen as lucrative and could potentially achieve RM20 billion in gross national income (GNI) impact.

“In March, we have activated projects involving five companies with a future revenue of RM1.35 billion. We are now in the midst of launching five more projects with a potential income of RM1.35 billion,” he said after the launch of Graphene Malaysia 2018, here, yesterday.

Rezal said the graphene technology sector generated RM2.8 billion revenue over three years.

“We expect to achieve the revenue targets set in the NGP.”

Rezal said the graphene technology sector’s revenue growth trend was projected to increase hyperbolically from next year to 2020 as the compound growth from projects developed during the 2016-2019 period would go into full scale.

“Next year we will start to see more licensing agreements and more products to be manufactured, while demand is expected to come from sectors such as automotive, transportation and consumer products,” he said.

On the national policy on Industry 4.0, which is set to be launched by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad tomorrow, Rezal said the policy would help expedite NanoMalaysia to achieve the NGP’s GNI impact target of RM20 billion.

Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Dr Ong Kian Ming said Industry 4.0 referred to production or manufacturing-based industries driven by digitalisation and connectivity technologies.

“This is where an emerging technology like graphene comes into play. Since its discovery a decade ago, graphene is becoming a potential key material for various industries due to its advantages.”

Graphene is a semi-metal material that can be used in developing industrial products for applications in the areas of rubber, including rubber gloves, oil and gas, plastics, electronics, renewable energy, automotive component, as well as concrete admixture.