Its minister, Mohd Redzuan Yusof, said Malaysia could contribute in terms of manufacturing components for the proposed aircraft.

He said the first meeting on the proposed Asian aircraft project would be held in Japan in late November.

“This idea did not come from Malaysia — it came from the Japanese government.

“They actually invited us to consider participating in the Asian aircraft project.

“We have the base here in relation to what we can do to support the global aircraft industry, such as CTRM (Composites Technology Research Malaysia), which is supplying Tier 2 components to Airbus,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Malaysian Economic Summit 2018, organised by the Kingsley Advisory and Strategic Initiatives here today.

The government, he added, may open more facilities if the project takes off.