LANGKAWI: The Defence Ministry fully supports local players, particularly those involved in the manufacture of patrol vessels, to compete in the international market.
Its Deputy Minister Adly Zahari said the move is aligned with government policies.
"The development that is taking shape in our defence industry is getting attention from the international market, and we should be proud of the success of a local shipbuilder who delivered two patrol vessels to the Nigerian navy.
"This shows that local companies are capable of building high technology military assets at par with developed nations," he said at the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the 38M Sea Eagle Patrol Vessel at the Northern Shipyard in Kampung Malut today.
Adly also spent half an hour touring the town patrol vessels built by KN Aluminium & Engineering Sdn Bhd (KN Aluminium & Engineering) that are scheduled to be delivered to the Nigerian navy next month.
Meanwhile, KN Aluminium & Engineering general manager Calvin Yong said the construction work on the vessels took two years to complete.
"We have 85 local workers, including five women working on building the ships since June 2022 and they were completed in June this year.
"Before that, we delivered four patrol vessels, also for the Nigerian navy, which were completed within 10 months, and we are looking forward to achieving more success in the industry," he said.