Mauritius, Mozambique Keen On Seeking Assistance From MIGHT For Technologies

Chief executive officer, Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman, said at its annual general meeting in 2012, Mauritius’ High Commissioner to Malaysia has expressed his intention to establish MIGHT-like organisation in his country.

Through a series of coordinations and arrangements made within a year between the two countries, Mauritius Prime Minister, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, has recently extended MIGHT the invitation to Mauritius to further discuss the idea, he said.

“His plan was to get the government and industry to work together.

“He was amazed at MIGHT’s 20 years of experience and success in helping the government mould the industry to the current stage,” he told Bernama.

Mohd Yusoff said the Mozambique government has also expressed the same interest to the organisation.

He said the concept of public-private partnership, which has been applied by MIGHT, was the key factor for the industry to grow.

“Developing countries have now realised that as they develop and grow, the government and industry have to work much closer to support the national goals.

“Mauritius has acknowledged this notion on how the government has to work closer with private sector in order to see and experience the tangible results,” he said.

On the local achievements, he said, since its establishment, MIGHT has created opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and developed entrepreneurship in the high-technology industries.

For instance, he said, the aerospace industry, which was started since 1997, registered a growth of about 10-11 per cent per year.

“We have around 200-300 SMEs in this sector, and the figure is quite substantial for a developing country’s perspective,” he said.

Although there was a need to shift to knowledge-based industry, he said, Malaysia could now call itself a hub for composite parts manufacturing in the aerospace industry.

“The development of this industry is actually a combination of the efforts  by industry to improve its competency and capability and support by the government by providing assistance,” Mohd Yusoff said.

Mohd Yusoff said, via the Offset Programmes, MIGHT has helped create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and SMEs to participate in new areas like rail, maritime and aerospace industries by becoming a part of the global value chain.

“‘Offset’ is a kind of counter-trade opportunity, like if we buy fighter jets from the US, we can ask the company to provide us with technology transfer and market access,” he said. — Bernama