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KUALA LUMPUR—The Malaysian government has set an ambitious target for MRO industry growth, with new development at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) expected to play a major role.
Under the government’s aerospace blueprint, industry revenue is expected to rise to RM55 billion ($14 billion) by the end of this decade, said Sim Tze Tzin, Malaysia’s deputy minister of investment, trade and industry, at the Aviation Week MRO Southeast Asia event on May 13.
This would represent a significant increase from the RM32.5 billion in revenue earned by this sector in 2025.
Sim noted that the Asia-Pacific MRO industry is forecast to reach $60 billion in revenue by 2030, and Malaysia is aiming to capture 20%-25% of the market growth in the broader region.
However, the Malaysian MRO sector “cannot be complacent as the industry evolves and regional competition intensifies,” Sim said. “Malaysia must move further up the value chain” by “shifting our focus toward higher-value MRO sectors” such as components and avionics.
To support the growth of the MRO sector, the government is looking to revitalize the MRO infrastructure at Kuala Lumpur’s Subang Airport and develop a new aeropark at KLIA, Sim said.
“These hubs provide a scalable environment for MRO operators and Tier 1 suppliers,” Sim said.
Another government goal is to create 30,000 high-skill jobs in the MRO sector by 2030.
More than 30% of Malaysia’s aerospace operators are based in facilities overseen by Malaysia Airports, Malaysia Airports CEO Bryan Thompson said. These operations contribute 40% of the country’s aerospace revenue.
The new development at KLIA is the Selangor Aero Park. The first phase of this project covers 200 acres and is currently under construction. The anchor tenant is GE Aerospace, and the first stage of the company’s facility there is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2027, Thompson said.
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