SAM INVESTS US$166 MILLION IN PENANG

BATU KAWAN (Penang, Malaysia), April 21 (Bernama) -- Singapore Aerospace Manufacturing Pte Ltd (SAM) will set up its subsidiary in Penang, Aviatron (M) Sdn Bhd, with an investment of RM500 million (US$166.209 million) for manufacturing structural parts of aircrafts.

Its Chairman Philip Yeo said the new facility, to be located at the Penang Science Park, Bukit Minyak here, will have a built up area of more than 150,000 square feet and be dedicated for the manufacture of nacelle major machined parts for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus 350 XWB, Bombardier CSeries and Mitsubishi
Regional Jet.

"This is part of a long-term contract awarded to SAM by US-based Goodrich Corporation," he told a news conference after the ground-breaking ceremony by International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, here Thursday.

He said the ground-breaking was not just another new investment for SAM but it was a major step in building up the company's precision engineering manufacturing capabilities in Malaysia.

"Today, we are going to have a simultaneous gound-breaking for both phase 1 and phase 2. These will be the cornerstone of a precision engineering campus that will serve the global aerospace market," he said.

He said the ground-breaking was not just another new investment for SAM but it was a major step in building up the company's precision engineering manufacturing capabilities in Malaysia.

"Today, we are going to have a simultaneous gound-breaking for both phase 1 and phase 2. These will be the cornerstone of a precision engineering campus that will serve the global aerospace market," he said.

The first delivery of the assembled structures to Goodrich was expected to take place in late 2012, he said.

He said prior to choosing Malaysia, SAM had evaluated several countries to locate the earospace manufacturing facilities.

"We decided to invest in Malaysia as it offers a market oriented economy and pro-business policies, a dynamic and vibrant business environment with the ideal pre-requisites for growth and profits, proximity and the best part is both countries share similar culture," he said.

Meanwhile, Mustapa said the investment was timely as the government was currently developing niche and high-technology aerospace industry.

He said according to the National Aerospace Blueprint, aero-manufacturing was one of the identified growth areas for Malaysia's aerospace industry.

Thus, he said SAM's proposed activity of manufacturing structural components for commercial aircrafts was in line with the government's aim to strengthen Malaysia's position in the gobal supply chain, especially for aerostructure parts and avionic.

"At present we have a dedicated area for the aerospace industry at Malaysia International Aerospace Centre in Subang Jaya and now with SAM firmly in the picture, Malaysia has a second aerospace hub in Penang which will primarily focus on the manufacture of structural components for commercial aircrafts.

To date, he said total investment for aerospace industry in Malaysia amounted to RM3.1 billion. (US$1=RM3.01)

SAM is headquartered in Singapore with 1,500 employees across Asia and Europe servicing the aerospace and equipment industries.