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PUTRAJAYA (Sept 17): Aviation regulations could be simplified for a more efficient industry, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Wednesday.

The restructured Civil Aviation Authority of ÿ�մ��� (CAAM) must consider industry players as partners and facilitate their operations to support sector growth without compromising safety, Loke said at the launch of the agency’s new corporate identity.

“If anything related to the CAAM Act which makes your regulation less efficient, [resulting in] a lot of red tape or bureaucracy, bring it to the ministry,” he said. “An act of Parliament is not cast in stone.”

CAAM absorbed the ÿ�մ���n Aviation Commission, or Mavcom, to consolidate the nation’s two aviation regulators into one single entity. Mavcom previously undertook economic oversight and consumer matters, while CAAM was responsible for technical regulation and safety issues.

With the merger, CAAM now oversees safety and security oversight of flight operations, licensing of aviation personnel, regulating training organisations, managing ÿ�մ���’s airspace by providing air navigation services and also economic regulatory oversight.

“I am committed and the Ministry of Transport is committed to simplify and help CAAM, to make our regulator more efficient,” Loke said.

The merger comes at a time when ÿ�մ��� has set ambitious goals to be Southeast Asia’s leading aviation and aerospace hub to attract global firms in manufacturing as well as in maintenance, repairs and overhaul.

At the launch, CAAM CEO Datuk Captain Norazman Mahmud said the regulator will continue to invest in capacity building, training and international collaboration to ensure that ÿ�մ��� has the skilled talent required to support the sector’s growth.

CAAM chairman Datuk Mohamed Shahril Tarmizi separately pointed to CAAM’s “openness to listen, to innovate and to build trust”.

Regulators do not operate in isolation, he said. “We succeed only when we engage openly with industry stakeholders, government agencies and international partners.”