KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian American Electronics Industry (MAEI) expects export sales by its members in the second quarter of this year to be higher than the first by about 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

The MAEI is an electronics industry committee of the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM Malaysia).

Sales in the third quarter meanwhile is expected to increase by another 10 per cent, said MAEI chairman Datuk Wong Siew Hai, to reporters at the MAEI Annual Survey 2008 press conference here yesterday.

The increase will be driven mainly by the stimulus packages implemented by governments from around the world, especially Asia and in particular China.

“The increase in manufacturing output of our members in the last quarter is also due to worldwide consolidation activities which we have benefited from, as well as inventory correction.

“Most companies are now returning to normal working hours, with some taking on limited and selective hiring, due to an increase in orders.

“However, MAEI members remain cautious over the sales outlook for the year, which depends on the pace of the global economic recovery,” he added.

The total sales forecast of MAEI members for 2009 is RM54.6 billion, a decrease of 27.5 per cent from actual sales last year.

“It is in line with the forecast of industry sales contraction of more than 20 per cent projected by various research houses,” said Wong.

Last year, MAEI contributed RM75.3 billion or 16.3 of Malaysia’s total exports of manufactured goods worth RM461.6 billion.

Wong also highlighted that MAEI companies are forecast to spend about RM960.3 million this year for design and development (D&D) activities.

MAEI companies have been investing more than RM3 billion in such activities over the past three years.

MAEI members employed some 56,213 workers in 2008, of whom about 7,000 were engineers. More than 3,000 engineers are involved in D&D activities.

This year, MAEI is forecast to employ some 53,379 workers.

According to Wong, some of the members have recently reported additional responsibilities in areas such as D&D, procurement, financial services, information technology, and human resources shared services.

“This shows that Malaysia is viewed as a competitive location with the talent to support such functions,” he said.

Asked about the deregulation of Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) guidelines, Wong said that such a move would make foreign companies “more willing to come to Malaysia as they can operate as if in their own countries.”

“Companies which have enquired before would definitely come back. The potential is higher,” he said.

MAEI is also forecast to place RM1.6 billion this year as capital investment, mainly for new products and development, as well as the upgrade of facilities.

“At times like this, this amount is considered huge,” said Wong. Last year, MAEI had RM2.5 billion for capital investment and RM2.6 billion in 2007.

 — Bernama