Purchase Of Local-made APC Benefits The Country

17 Juni 2010

The candidate for AV8 8x8 (photo : Militaryphotos)

KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) -- The government's plan to purchase 257 units of eight-wheel-drive armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from a local company, DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech), will benefit the country in terms of developing the local defence industry.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the Dewan Rakyat today the plan was in line with the government objective of enhancing the capacity and expertise of local defence-related companies.

He said the technology and systems developed by other companies previously could also be applied in the production of the APCs.

"In negotiating the purchase price of the APCs, the Defence Ministry will ensure that the price finalised will truly benefit the government without compromising the vehicles' specifications and systems," he said when replying to Mohamed Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak).

Mohamed Azmin wanted to know the detailed list on the supply of military hardware worth RM8 billion by Deftech to the government and the rationale for selecting the company in the project.

Ahmad Zahid said the selection of Deftech for the supply of the hardware had yet to be finalised because the government had just sent the Letter of Intent to the company concerned while the purchase price was still at the negotiation stage.

He said the selection of Deftech was made through direct negotiation based on the company's expertise in developing armoured vehicles particularly the Adnan ACV 300 armoured vehicles which were now being used by the Malaysian armed forces.

"The initial price offered by the company was RM7.983 million (almost RM8 billion). The price, among others, also takes into consideration the cost of constructing a new facility and the purchase of equipment to develop the vehicles, transfer of technology and the acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights," he added.

(Bernama)