Aviation, medical devices expect strong investment growth

KUALA LUMPUR: The American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Malaysia) expects the medical devices and aviation sectors to see greater investment growth moving forward, backed by tremendous sustainability growth in the electrical and electronics (E&E) industry.

AmCham Malaysia chief executive officer Siobhan Das said as both sectors are almost complementary to the base industry of E&E, they relied on each other and share similar skills and knowledge.

She said the government had implemented a very successful investment plan in the E&E industry, evidenced by seeing companies from the United States, Germany or Taiwan doing extremely well here.

“There is (investment) growth coming out from the E&E sector, and there is a shi towards the healthcare and medical devices sectors too.

“While aviation is becoming an increasingly strong area, we would see greater growth to come from these two industries,” she said at the World Bank Group webinar titled “Aiming High: Navigating the Next Stage of Malaysia’s Development”.

Citing Microso ’s US$1 billion “Bersama Malaysia” initiative to establish its first datacentre region in the country, Siobhan said that was built on Malaysia’s sound and strong fundamentals.

“Any investors who are looking at Asia, should be looking at Malaysia very seriously,” she said.

To keep ahead of competitors, Siobhan urged the government to modernise the industry ecosystem by opening up the services sector to encourage greater participation of foreign investments.

On how local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could enhance their presence in the global arena, Siobhan said they should have be er awareness of regulatory compliance issues such as climate initiative or labour practices.

“More can be done to help the SMEs understand what is it like to work at global level, as investors who are in Malaysia are not only working for the Malaysian market, but also for the global markets.

“So they need to understand things that will have an impact on global companies and the global supply chain ecosystems,” she said, adding that the SMEs should also enhance use of English language to enable them to interact directly with research and development (R&D) or operational centres in multiple countries.

Meanwhile, International Trade and Industry Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Seri Norazman Ayob said the government had provided a series of financial assistance via several stimulus packages announced last year to ensure that local SMEs could remain sustainable post-COVID-19.

“We also undertake measures to improve their capacities and capabilities, and introduce initiatives to help them reskill and upskill their workers.

“We also have been having regular engagements with industries to get their feedback and views,” he said.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) digital skills and jobs vice-president and head Dr Sumitra Nair pointed out that it is important for companies to adopt a holistic approach to retain and a ract high-quality local talents, especially in the digital technology sector.

She said about 70 per cent of vacancies in the digital technology sector were for experience employees, but most investors said they could hardly find experience talents except those for entry-level jobs.

The salary structure and incentives are among the factors for talents to decide whether to stay or leave a company or a country, she added.

There is (investment) growth coming out from the E&E sector, and there is a shi towards the healthcare and medical devices sectors too. Siobhan Das