The regulatory hurdles holding back Malaysia’s drone industry

Dan Lain-Lain (Malay for “and others”) is a weekly column by TIA journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa that dissects the goings-on in the Malaysia tech scene but with a heavy mix of current affairs, policy, and politics. Click here to read past articles.

Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons

Let’s talk about drones. The major industry index that always sparks discussions is the Drone Readiness Index.

Malaysia seems to do well here. This year, we’ve moved up eight spots to no. 21 in the rankings. This puts us among the best – or if not the best – in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia also has two local drone service providers – Aerodyne and Meraque – globally ranking first and 18th, respectively.

The index is developed by consultancy Drone Industry Insights (DII) and compares various countries’ drone regulations. DII uses six parameters to assess both countries and drone operators: applicability, human resources, airspace integration, operational limitations, administrative infrastructure, and social acceptance.

Aerodyne, in particular, has been making news for its rapid growth, fueled primarily by mergers and acquisitions. It’s also looking to list soon, though it has not mentioned where.

I’m going to list some other positives for drone companies in Malaysia as well before I tackle some of the key problems.

The country is geographically diverse with different terrain. We have large “old economy” sectors such as plantations and telco services that need drone services.

But whether the take-up is encouraging remains anecdotal. Depending on who you talk to, some of the big players may say that drones help while others scoff at the tech.

We are also home to four drone sandboxes and there are some funding options for drone service providers. A large company like Aerodyne has also been a beneficiary of government funding.

Among the government agencies that’s really selling the drone agenda is the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (Mranti), which hosts one of the four sandboxes.

Its CEO, Dzuleira Abu Bakar, as well as its other officials have been on a media blitz, appearing on radio stations and news portals. All well and good.

Same ol’ tune

But we’ve been droning about this for years. In fact, we are still short of real discussions if we are going to move the needle. There are two problems.

Rules, rules, and more rules