FINANCE, TAX INCENTIVES FOR PEOPLE INVOLVED IN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY, SAYS MSIAN PM

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 21 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government has agreed to offer
finance and tax incentives for people engaged in the aerospace industry, Prime
Minister Najib Tun Razak announced Monday.

People involved in research and development; manufacturing and production;
maintenance, repair and refurbishment; general aviation; integration system; and
training are eligible for the incentives, he said.

"A detailed announcement on the incentives will be made soon," said Najib,
who is also Finance Minister, to reporters after opening the Sixth Malaysian
Aerospace Council meeting.

The Prime Minister said the aerospace industry had been registering a steady
11 per cent growth a year over the last five years while total investments in
the sector had soared to 300 per cent in the past three years.

Last year, the industry's turnover clinched RM25 billion (US$7.2 billion).


Najib said the industry had also created jobs for 54,000 people.

However, the number of skilled personnel in the aerospace industry was still
inadequate particularly in the licensed aircraft maintenance engineering.

"By 2015, we need about 16,000 engineers in aircraft maintenance
engineering," he said.

The Prime Minister said new investments and re-investments in the aerospace
industry totalled RM1.4 billion (US$407.6 million) to date and are expected to
offer jobs to 2,700 people.

-- BERNAMA