SERI KEMBANGAN, May 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia hopes to see more technical collaboration between locally-based and global automotive component manufacturers.

Making this call, International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said collaborations of such nature were important channels for the transfer of technology and sharing of best practices.

He said this at the 30th anniversary celebration of Denso (M) Sdn Bhd here Tuesday.

Denso is the largest producer of automotive components in Malaysia.

As of December 2009, more than 690 automotive component manufacturers and 110 motorcycle/scooter component manufacturers have established their operations in Malaysia, producing more than 5,000 different components.

Mustapa said the country strongly welcomed the development as more than 75 per cent of the components industry in Malaysia was Malaysian-owned.

He said some of the companies have also established strong technical collaborations with global automotive component companies.

Mustapa said the growing sophistication of the Malaysian components manufacturing industry was also evident from the fact that more than 60 per cent of the component manufacturers operate according to approved international standards.

For the first quarter of this year, sales of parts and components went up to RM1.7 billion, or a 30.8 per cent growth compared with the same period last year.

On Denso, he said the government was encouraging the company to consider Malaysia as its production base for other high value-added components.

Mustapa also hoped manufacturers like Denso would further invest in research and development facilities as an extension of their already established local production facilities.

"We have had an excellent partnership and we hope this relationship will continue to grow as Malaysia embarks on an exciting new phase ahead."

As Malaysia has jumped eight notches to enter the top ten most competitive nations in the world, as compiled by premier Swiss business school, IMD, the government also believes that it will be able to further deliver on the country's potential with the New Economic Model, he said.

-- BERNAMA