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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia Aims To Produce More Arms To Reduce Dependency |
| 2006-03-28 |
| Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Monday the government aimed to produce more armaments to reduce the dependency on foreign imports, but he was quick to add that it had to be realistic with the nation's capability. He said the government had a dream of creating a defence industry with high capabilities in the weaponry and maintenance sector. "We must be realistic, in other words, whatever that we wish to do and produce must be based on viability. If for instance, we want to manufacture fighter jets, certainly it is beyond our means and reach. But what we can do is, we must take into account the elements of viability," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) in the Dewan Rakyat, here Monday. Najib, who is also the Defence Minister, said companies which were capable of producing armaments in the country would be given the opportunity to develop the defence industry more systematically. He said the development of the national defence industry would not be a threat to western nations as the capability of the local defence ministry was currently more geared towards activities of installation, production of basic equipment, supervision, maintenance and overhaul. "The nation is still dependent on foreign suppliers for military hardware such as submarines and fighter aircraft," he said. Najib said through the defence industry development plan, several medium and small companies were encouraged to be directly involved or they could take part through the vendor development programme. He also admitted that the involvement in the defence industry would generate income and provide good returns for the economy. |
| Posted by:Pappy |