Malaysia emphasises defence spending, says PM

LANGKAWI: Malaysia’s defence spending will continue to grow as its armed forces had embarked on a long term plan to modernise and upgrade their equipment.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday said a total of RM26 billion had been allocated under the 11th Malaysia Plan to bolster defence, public order and enforcement.

“Defence and security are of paramount importance to any nation as they are vital for maintaining territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” he said yesterday.

Najib said this while officiating the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2017 (LIMA ‘17) here.

According to him, Malaysia needed to equip its armed forces with the capabilities required to face modern warfare, both symmetrically and asymmetrically.

“And LIMA ‘17 brought together major aerospace and maritime firms from around the world to demonstrate their state of the art static and aerial displays and cutting-edge technologies,” he said.

This, he said, augured well with the need to equip the Armed Forces with the capabilities to face modern warfare.

“We are very proud that LIMA continues to be an effective gateway to one of the world’s largest maritime and aerospace growth markets and it has become a mainstay of the global events calendar,” he said.

Najib said LIMA ‘17, which is the 14th edition since its inaugural organisation in 1991, had gathered 520 companies from 35 countries representing more than 55 per cent of the world’s top 100 maritime and aerospace companies. — Bernama