“The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 30% of the global aviation industry. We cannot afford to simply observe from the sidelines. We need to participate,” says CAAM CEO Captain Norazman Mahmud, who moderated the “Shaping Malaysia’s LAE: Building a National LAE Strategy” session at the LAE Forum 2026 last week.
Malaysia has the necessary building blocks in place to become a regional hub for the emerging low-altitude economy (LAE), but success will depend on how quickly it can draw up regulations, deepen engineering capabilities and attract investment, industry leaders say.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) is expected to unveil a regulatory framework covering drones, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other low-altitude operations by year-end, creating what officials see as a foundation for commercial deployment.
