Executive Profile: Zulfikri Osman leads the development of Asia Aerospace City (AAC)

In February 21, 2014, MARA simultaneously created a new entity, M-AeroTech Sdn Bhd (M-AeroTEch), and appointed Zulfikri Osman as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Zulfikri Osman comes to M-AeroTech with over twenty years of experience and increasing responsibilities at MARA. Mr. Osman’s immediate past position at MARA was to serve as Director its Investment and Subsidiaries Development Division, and leader of its “Think-Tank Team.” The prime purpose of the Investment and Subsidiaries Division is to explore, assess, and evaluate new investment opportunities for MARA; ensure and maintain corporate governance, and develop new business activities for all MARA’s subsidiaries.

As leader of the Think-Tank Team, Mr. Osman provided key leadership that was instrumental in conceiving and laying the groundwork for AAC and M-AeroTech. Earlier at MARA, Mr. Osman led MARA’s “Think-Tank Team” to develop MARA’s Blue Ocean Strategy (2010), and MARA’S Strategic Plan 2011-2020.

Mr. Osman began his early careers at The New Straits Times, after which he undertook a variety of roles, including entrepreneurship development with MARA, and Education Attaché under the Malaysian High Commission Office, UK.

In addition to serving as COO of M-AeroTech, Mr. Osman also sits on the board of MARA, as well as Pelaburan MARA Berhad (PMB). He is also a member of the PMB Audit Committee.

MARA stands for Majlis Amanah Rakyat, which translates as “Council of Trust for the People.” MARA, created in 1967, is the premier public/private agency of the Malaysian government for technical education in Malaysia, and a long-time advocate of developing the aerospace sector of the Malaysian economy.

M-AeroTech is a wholly owned subsidiary of MARA, and was specifically created to develop and operate Asia Aerospace City (AAC).

AAC is a bold strategic initiative of a large variety of Malaysian governmental agencies, public/private entities, and private companies working together to create a combined educational, technical, and business center for the aerospace industry that can serve as a central hub for the entire Asia/Pacific region. According to Mr. Osman,

“Asia Aerospace City is a complete business ecosystem, a synergy of human capital capabilities, excellent engineering services supported by a strong innovation culture.”

Pelaburan MARA Berhad (PMB), is the master developer of AAC. PMB was established on June 24, 1967 as an investment arm of MARA, and is principally involved in strategic investment and fund management activities. In regard to AAC and M-AeroTech, PMB’s role is to meet the financial and infrastructure needs of AAC, while M-AeroTech is charged with operating AAC, as well as seeking out and arranging the seamless interaction of the educational, engineering, training and testing, and business activities of AAC.

Through AAC, M-AeroTech aims to make Malaysia the hub for Aerospace OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) in South East Asia and beyond, offering sustainable human capital solutions as its main advantage, AAC leverages on various engagement strategies of Aerospace OEMs across the globe. There is an expanding need for a more diversified supply chain, and greater business growth opportunities in Asia by the OEMs. Fully endorsed by the Malaysian government, AAC is set to be a game changer in developing value chain solutions.

“That is why our investment focuses on people too, not just technology and infrastructure, in positioning AAC as ‘the’ aerospace hub in Asia.”

According to Mr. Osman, AAC is intended to transcend the current aerospace value chain proposition of various infrastructure models around Asia, replacing it with a centralized, knowledge-based, highly trained services capability, which will then serve as the nucleus for the future development of the aerospace industry globally.