KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The Malaysian Aerospace Industry Association (MAIA) has urged the government to reconsider and allow the industry and its supply chain to continue operations for the country to secure its place in the global aerospace arena.

It said following the enhanced movement control order (EMCO), its members manufacturing facilities are closing down and any move to curtail these operations would most likely have a long-term detrimental impact particularly as many are sole source suppliers with the global aviation industry now starting to recover.

"Shutting down will only encourage other countries, not similarly affected, to secure this business. Once lost it is extremely difficult to regain resulting in a detrimental impact on our highly skilled Malaysian workforce,” it said in a statement today.

It said as a highly regulated and disciplined industry, the aerospace industry recognised its responsibility in maintaining strict adherence to government standard operating procedures (SOPs).

MAIA said it has also encouraged the implementation of additional measures and have publicised these as examples of best practice on its website and across social media.

"Whilst MAIA fully respects the urgent and critical need to control the spread of the pandemic, we believe that the action taken does not take into account the very exacting standards adopted by the aerospace manufacturing sector,” it said.

Besides that, MAIA said it regularly surveys its members and shares the information with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and openly on its communication channels for all to view, including on LinkedIn platform at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/malaysia-aerospace-industry-association-maia-0536381b4_maiarepresents-the-voice-of-aerospace-companies-activity-6816673246423998464-1Vkd. — Bernama