KEDAH is setting up its Northern Aeropolis and Aerospace Hub, which is expected to attract investments of RM1 billion to RM2 billion.

Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) chief executive officer Muhammad Mahadi Mohamad said the hub would primarily be in Alor Star.

“We are also looking at Langkawi and potentially Kulim,” he told reporters after the hub’s announcement at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre in Langkawi today.

He said the hub would be introduced in three phases – assembly at Alor Star Airport in the first phase, followed by manufacturing in the second phase, and technology transfer that benefits local students in the third stage.

The first phase will bring 800 jobs while the later phases will deliver a targeted 2,000 jobs.

“The hub will complement our existing aerospace industry in Bukit Kayu Hitam,” Mahadi said, referring to Aerospace Composites Malaysia, which provides composites fabrication and minor parts assembly for the global aerospace industry.

“This initiative to establish a hub is to kickstart the industry in Kedah, in anticipation of the Kulim International Airport (KXP). We are working on creating interests to invest in Kedah.

“It is timely that we are having the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition now, where we can meet and invite exhibitors to come and invest,” he said.

Mahadi said several companies have already expressed interest.

During the announcement, several memoranda of understanding were also inked between MBI and several companies – Global Aerospace, AeroPlans Asia, UA Aerospace and THAC Group.

The MoUs are for the setting up of the Aeropolis and Aerospace Hub and the final assembly facility for Chinese aircraft maker AVIC Harbin’s Y12 multirole utility plane and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) centre for the firm’s AC312E helicopters.

Mahadi said the facility at Alor Star Airport was expected to start construction in the first quarter of next year and begin operations at the end of the year.

Earlier, Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said the Kedah government was turning to new and potential sectors to strengthen the state’s economic growth.

The aeropolis and aerospace hub, he said, was a much welcomed development.

“We may be known as the rice bowl of the nation but the state still has much hidden potential that can be explored,” he said in his speech.

Mukhriz also said the MoUs signed today were timely after the federal government approved a RM1.6 billion allocation for KXP.

He said when he was menteri besar for the first time in 2013, he had envisioned an international airport for handling cargo to be built in the state, catering to domestic industries to export goods and produce from the state and the northern region.

“The MoUs today will further complement that vision. Once the KXP is completed, we will have an alternative to the sea port in Klang, or the Bayan Lepas Airport in Penang, in transporting cargo out of this area,” said Mukhriz.

Mukhriz said that the MoUs between MBI and the various aerospace companies would put Kedah on the right track to become an aviation hub and enhance the state’s industrial development. – March 28, 2019.