Kuala Lumpur: Local and international defence industry players have been actively involved in various projects in Malaysia with investments reaching RM5bil.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Government was committed to seeing the defence industry expand in tandem with the increasing demand for such products in the Asian region.

"This is especially so following the Meeting of Asean Defence Ministers in Cambodia last month, which decided to bolster cooperation in the defence industry among member states," he said after attending a meeting of the Malaysia Industry Council for Defence, Enforcement and Security (Mides) yesterday.

Zahid said the Cabinet had approved the building of an industrial plant, an educational centre and defence industry manufacturing facility in Perak, whereby the state government had approved the land for the project.

On the "Indodefence 2012" exhibition in Jakarta last month, he said the active participation of Malaysia's defence industry in the exhibition had attracted the interest of international companies.

He said among the products that drew the visitors' attention and orders was the Maxus Weststar Model V80 passenger van produced by Maxus Weststar.

Malaysia's defence industry continued to move forward through strategic cooperation among the government agencies like Matrade and Mida, and this helped Mides to promote and expand business in the Asian region, he added. Bernama