KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 (Bernama) -- Developing skills and acquiring knowledge in aerospace technology are crucial to strengthen the Malaysian Aerospace capability.

Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said modernising the aviation infrastructure requires a broad-based team, training, technology and structure.

He said the combination could produce solutions that integrate and address environmental, energy, business, labour and consumer needs to move forward in the aviation sector.

The Airbus' latest Global Market Forecast published the need for over 29,000 new passengers and freighter aircrafts, which also anticipated a more than double of the world's overall passenger aircraft inventory by 2032, he said.

"The industry forecast calls for 190,000 new commercial airline pilots and 220,000 new technicians in the Asia Pacific Region including Malaysia, through to 2032.

"This shows a significant strong demand for aviation personnel in the future," he said at the 1st Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) International Aerospace Symposium 2014 at a hotel here, Wednesday.

His speech text was read by his deputy, Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi.

Mohd Shafie said the launch of the first satellite in the year 2000 also witnessed early steps of Malaysia venture into the space technology sectors, in which the industry had developed significantly.

As such Mohd Shafie said the establishment of the Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology (UniKL Miat), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mara had offered students with highly specialised skill-sets to meet the global aerospace industry's quality standards.

He added the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) had also been working on the predominant role to enable consensus building and coordination for industry-government partnership in high technology.

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Aerospace Skills, Technology Crucial To Strengthen Malaysian Capability - Shafie Apdal