Govt, industry players urged to cooperate in rail sector

KUALA LUMPUR: The government and rail industry players need to collaborate and work together under the spirit of the Malaysian Family to accelerate development in the country’s rail industry, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

He said the long-standing collaboration between Malaysia Rail Industry Corp (Maric), Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (Might) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) is highly commendable and the synergy has resulted in a readiness to delve further into technology deepening among local rail industry players.

“Increased localisation will secure domestic technology development and adoption while meeting targeted sustainable development goals.

“It also ensures high-value job creation and an acceleration of talent development,” he said in his speech at the Rail Technology and Development Symposium 2021 (RAIL TED 2021) yesterday.

The text of his speech was delivered by Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Henry Sum Agong.

Wee said the 12th Malaysia Plan focuses on completing the dots, a complete system that completes the last-mile connectivity.

Hence, the rail industry has to co-exist with other modes of transport to ensure a sustainable ecosystem and seamless travel with a focus on local empowerment, he added.

RAIL TED 2021, an annual railway exhibition and conference, was held yesterday with the theme, “Driving the competitiveness of an integrated, affordable, reliable and smooth urban public rail for first and last-mile mobility.”

The symposium was co-organised by Maric, Might and Utar, with support from the National Rail Centre of Excellence.

Maric president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman said the corporation had realised a total project value of RM4.8 billion between 2017 and 2019. – Bernama