The government has not decided whether or not to make the work-from-home programme a policy, Najib Abdul Razak said today.

NONE The prime minister said he wanted to first see whether the pilot project involving the works ministry yielded better performance from the staff than working in the office and the benefits to them in terms of saving commuting costs and fostering family well-being.

"This is a pilot project and we have not made any decision whether or not to make it a policy, but we have to try out first," he told reporters when asked whether the government proposed to extend the programme to other ministries.

Earlier, he chaired the sixth Malaysian Aerospace Council meeting in Putrajaya.

Works Minister Shaziman Mansor announced last month that the three-month trial programme would involve 35 draughtsman and selected individuals working from home.

Tax relief offered

On another matter, Najib said the government has agreed to offer finance and tax incentives for people engaged in the aerospace industry.

People involved in research and development; manufacturing and production; maintenance, repair and refurbishment; general aviation; integration system; and training are eligible for the incentives, he said.

"A detailed announcement on the incentives will be made soon," he added.

The prime minister said the aerospace industry had been registering a steady 11 percent growth a year over the last five years while total investments in the sector had soared to 300 per cent in the past three years. Last year, the industry's turnover clinched RM25 billion.

Najib said the industry had also created jobs for 54,000 people.

However, the number of skilled personnel in the aerospace industry was still inadequate particularly in the licensed aircraft maintenance engineering.

"By 2015, we need about 16,000 engineers in aircraft maintenance engineering," he said.

The Prime Minister said new investments and re-investments in the aerospace industry totalled RM1.4 billion to date and are expected to offer jobs to 2,700 people.

- Bernama